The desire to live better, to have strong family, financial wealth visits each of us. To achieve your goals, you need to develop, learn, and work on yourself. This path is not easy and involves going through several stages. The main thing is to move forward and take steps every day leading to. A person comes to self-development and personal growth with different experiences and state of mind. Therefore, work on oneself occurs individually for each person. Let's figure out what self-development gives, and what impact does personal growth have on a person's life?

A little theory

There is a statement that self-development and personal growth are one and the same. Indeed, they walk side by side and lead to a common goal. Self-development is understood as a person’s actions, which he carries out without pressure or interference from third parties. It is a conscious process aimed at achieving clear goals or beliefs.

Personal growth is a concept used in psychology. It means developing a person’s certain qualities and acquiring skills that improve specific areas of life. This includes social, financial, cultural and other areas. The main task of personal growth and self-development is to increase a person’s potential and high performance in selected areas of life.

From these two concepts a conclusion emerges. Actions are carried out in a specific direction. To achieve results, a self-development plan is drawn up. It includes actions that a person must carry out. This includes reading books on self-development, watching films on personal growth, and taking trainings.

Goals of self-development and personal growth

Today there are skeptics who claim that self-development is a waste of time. Such thoughts arise in lazy people or individuals without a goal. They live life automatically. They wake up in the morning, then go to work, come back, have dinner and fall asleep to the sound of the TV. It’s much more convenient to live and not think about anything. In this case, you should not complain about your financial situation, personal failures or lack of career growth.

Self-development and personal growth help achieve the following goals:

Formation of awareness. It begins with the release of an automatic life model. When a person begins to ask himself questions, evaluate from the outside, and draw conclusions. Awareness gradually develops. A person accepts the present and corrects it, rather than living in the past or basking in the hopes of the future. By influencing certain character traits, a person develops and acquires new skills.
Relevant to the current day. The second target emerges from the first. The search for information leads a person to study various subjects, knowledge, and master new skills. The modern pace of life is fast, interesting and technologically complex. To keep up with the times, keep an eye on the changes that are happening in the world. Everyday work allows a person to keep up with the times. Such skills help you to be a sought-after specialist at work.
Comprehensive development. When pursuing personal growth, don't focus on one topic. Narrow specialization makes a person limited and boring. Be interested in a little bit of everything. You don't have to spend a lot of time for this. Instead of watching TV, look through the news section in the world of culture, science, and technology. Thanks to the accumulated knowledge, you will be able to start a conversation with stranger and become the life of the party. Comprehensive development helps with employment.

People engaged in self-development achieve goals and understand their goals. At the same time, they are pumping up other areas: health, proper nutrition, spiritual fulfillment. Personal growth leads to getting rid of bad habits, organization, improving relationships with loved ones.

Self-development and personal growth in career

There are many demands placed on the modern employee. The main qualities are resistance to stress, the ability to adapt to different conditions work, the right psychological attitude. At the same time, not every manager is ready to send a new employee to training and education, preparing valuable personnel. We need employees who can join the team from day one.

To compete in your job search, seek information, develop skills, and attend professional events and seminars. Personal growth in your career gives the following results:

conscious choice of profession and idea of ​​work;
quick and confident decision making;
understanding what qualities to develop for career advancement;
competitiveness, advantageous positions when searching for work on a competitive basis;
the ability to present oneself correctly.

Self-development involves studying information in a specific area. Fresh knowledge helps develop expertise. A person acquires related skills: the ability to plan a day and solve work problems.

Self-development in studies

Every person goes through compulsory education, developing and gaining certain knowledge. After school, the road leads to higher education educational establishments. Here it is worth showing interest in choosing a profession and focusing your actions on in-depth study of core subjects. Obtaining a diploma is the first serious step towards personal development.

Self-development in studies gives positive results:

a person learns to focus on classes;
gains first skills in motivation;
participates in the learning process, does not go with the flow, but makes a conscious choice;
enjoys studying and easily learns the material, since he learns of his own free will.

The institutions pay attention (critical and analytical). As a result, the educational process is smooth and interesting. The student gains knowledge that he can apply in various life situations.

Personal growth in private life

Relationships between a man and a woman require effort. As a person develops, he gains new knowledge about his personal life and applies it. Relationships become stronger and healthier. It’s great if your significant other is interested in self-development. Support loved one helps to achieve goals and form a holistic personality.

Personal growth in private life leads to the following results:

a person understands himself and loved ones more deeply;
the fear of building romantic or romantic relationships goes away;
a person opens up, makes contact more easily, conflicts less with his other half, as understanding of actions comes;
self-development opens up new sides of loved ones.

A person develops an understanding of family, his role and responsibilities. The knowledge gained helps during current relationships, plus reveals ways further actions. Difficult decisions are made: divorce, search for a new partner, and others.

Stages of self-development and personal growth

Banal curiosity, reading books and watching motivating films will not lead to results. To make changes in life, you have to work hard. To do this, go required steps self-development and personal growth:

Acceptance of the current situation. Analyze what you have today, what you are not satisfied with, what knowledge you plan to gain.
The desire to act. Draw a portrait of the new person you want to become. Describe the strengths and weak sides. Set a specific goal for what you want to achieve.
Implementation. To reach your goal, take small steps every day. , repeat that everything will work out, and you will achieve the result.

Responsibility. Be prepared for a thorny path. Achievements and mistakes are entirely yours. Do not shift responsibility for failures to third parties. Analysis of mistakes and awareness of wrong actions is proof of self-development.

Personal growth is a journey that has a beginning but no end. Once you begin to develop, you will acquire harmony of soul and body. You will be able to understand people, build harmonious relationships with others. Take a step towards yourself, life will become more interesting and richer.

What is personal growth? Theories of personal growth. Comprehensive and harmonious development of personality Reviewed by Vladislav Chelpachenko on Jun 22 Rating: 4.5

Hello, dear colleagues and friends!

In our amazing world there are a lot of things that cannot be called unambiguous, especially if we're talking about about the inner world. Personal growth- one of the most important paths that each of us has to go through, or at least try to do it, or decide what we did, but in fact don’t even try.

Our whole life, its quality, its brightness, and the mark that it will leave behind depends on how early or how late we understand the importance of personal growth.

What is personal growth?

Personal growth - a concept that does not necessarily have a positive connotation for others. This is, first of all, victory over your weaknesses, over fears, over ingrained phobias, over everything that prevents us from being what we want to be and what we can be.

Personal growth– this is, first of all, a person’s conscious self-development, his desire to become better, smarter, more active, more significant (maybe more popular) and more promising.

Personal growth- This is a component of success in any business. This is work that a person must do on himself. A personality is a living organism that must constantly grow and develop. How to do this correctly? Read on...

Personal growth theory

There are quite a lot of theories regarding personal growth, most of them are very subtle and complex for an unprepared mind. But there are also clearer positions on this matter, the simplification of the explanation of which is not at all necessary. Perhaps we’ll start with them.

Behaviorism- this is the one rare case when the simplest theory is called the most complex word. The very essence of this theory is very simple and widespread. According to her We all initially do not have any special, and most importantly, different potential from others. We are all equal as a selection! But this is only the beginning of the journey. Our personal growth depends solely on the circumstances and factors surrounding us, which ultimately lead us along the path of personal growth.

No one will pull you by the ears in this life and no one will occupy you with you except yourself... To achieve something in life, you need to break through the walls with your head!

Existential approach in some ways similar to the previous one, but the similarities are not great. In this case, at the beginning of the journey we still have nothing, and we gain everything in the process of self-knowledge, the search for spiritual harmony and, as a result, a new perception of everything around us.

Well, perhaps the most common of the theories is "inevitably positive" , let's call it that. Based on it, each of us is filled with a huge amount of potential, which is eager to be released, but finds a way out only under appropriate conditions, and not always positive ones. The latter makes this theory truly positive, because whatever you say, growth will still take place! But let's not forget, this is also a theory. All teachings are good, but you need to act no matter what!

Everything that will be written below is directly related to how exactly you feel about this concept, and how you perceive it.

Why is personal growth necessary?

Yes, but why? Why bother if you are already living well? If any of you asked this question, then you are probably happy, satisfied with yourself and your situation. Or, you are very old and think that growth is not a word that applies to you.

Most of us, fortunately, have dreams. Not many of us know what exactly is stopping them from achieving this dream. And only a few dream, notice their mistakes, and find the path to their dream. Moreover, it is also funny that the word “dream” only evokes associations with something unrealistic among the first. Humility is the main indicator that we are standing still, that we are not growing (this does not mean the Orthodox understanding as a virtue, but the lack of desire to achieve more).

This is the answer to the question "For what?" Personal growth is needed we are like air, we cannot refuse it, and at the same time remain ourselves, we will degrade, and very soon we will take the last place in line for... no, not for a dream - for normal life, for respect and interest from people dear to us.

Personal growth is a modern model of the truth that the fittest survive! Only in our case, to survive is to lose, and to live is to win. Without personal growth, we will have to survive, not live.

How to develop personal growth?

There are a lot of different trainings, and there are also a lot of those who conduct these trainings, promising you a quick transformation, thereby insulting you already in the first lesson. No, of course, there are those for whom an ordinary “kick” is enough, those who were one step away from realizing the importance and necessity of growth, but did not dare to act. But there are not many such people. It is not always good to force this procedure, and often there is no effect, and if there is no result, then you will not only not be able to start what you had in mind, but you will also take a big step back. It's like losing 50 kilograms in one month. We cannot change everything we wanted in an instant, even if that same clarity came to our heads, that insight that we so needed.

The first step towards development- to admit that the current state of affairs is not what we so desired, what we thought and reasoned about so much, not what we wanted. You don’t have to derail your entire life, because there are probably a lot of pleasant moments in it. Personal growth is rarely comprehensive, many of us have strengths, and our growth as individuals, first of all, is manifested in the recognition of weak sides, and actions that will be aimed at strengthening them. After all, you need to admit, first of all, to yourself, and not rarely, only to yourself. Let your progress be a pleasant surprise for others.

Psychology of Personality Development

We all want to see positive subtext in all directions, even in those where it is not entirely appropriate. It often happens that personal growth occurs against the backdrop of anything but positive moments. The same envy can become a strong push, and, ultimately, a positive incentive; this is a fairly common practice.

It just so happens that those who ask this question rarely want growth from a good life, no, of course, there are those, but we won’t talk about exceptions. Often, the question of personal growth becomes relevant when we are dissatisfied with something, when we have been consumed for years by the memory of some personal failure, something that we could have achieved, but did not have time, or we were prevented from doing it. Or something less significant, but no less unpleasant.

Be that as it may, the desire to grow almost always gives rise to dissatisfaction. It's quite normal. After all, they recycle garbage and make beautiful things out of it, so why don’t we recycle our spiritual garbage into something more useful and necessary for us. It is very important to admit to ourselves that sometimes the desire to become better is prompted by one of the strongest failures. This is exactly the case when we can safely count on catching two birds with one stone. We can become better, and as a reward for this we will receive a conquered problem.

If you intend to become a less significant person than your abilities allow, you will be a deeply unhappy person!

Abraham Maslow

It also happens that personal growth is due to the appearance in your life of new goal, on the way to achieving which you will inevitably have to. This goal could be a higher position at work, or your interest in an individual. Love can be a very serious incentive on the path to personal growth; it will be an excellent assistant, and even an accompaniment, if everything works out as you planned. If you disagree, write in the comments, I will be glad to see your opinion!

There are also those who grow not for the sake of any goals, not for the sake of love and successful work. These are people who strive to live in harmony with the world around them, they place emphasis on self-knowledge. It is more important for them to rethink the approach to life’s truths, to change the perception of everything that seems too sharp and alien, so that in the end, even problems seem part of success, or at least, interesting and useful material for reflection. First of all, such people strive to get rid of internal contradictions, considering them to be the basis of all problems. This is one of the most competent and painless beginnings of the path leading to personal development.

Self-development of personality

In this case, to put it simply, then self-development– this is the autonomous mode, the one in which most of us live. We develop without controlling the channel, and we receive growth only in those places where our needs are directed. There are cases in which a person lived his life, and at the same time never put emphasis on the question of developing himself in any direction. Everything just worked out by itself, everything worked out. But these are, of course, just another exception, and in percentage terms there are very few such people. That’s why it turns out that there are areas in which we are a kind of guru, and there are also those in which we remain small children who cannot even put together a couple of words, let alone take actions.

It’s not uncommon for self-development to be facilitated by the problems we experience. Often these problems remain unresolved, but the very fact that we went through them either breaks us or makes us stronger. The path of personal growth is filled with problem areas, and in order to grow, we must learn not only to accept, but also to give and lose. There will never come a time when problems stop affecting us completely, but we can learn to accept them differently, as part of the path to positive result– this will be the best indicator of personal growth.

Personal growth techniques

There are so many varieties that it probably doesn’t make sense to list them all; the format of the article is somewhat different. One way or another, they all imply an action, or a series of necessary actions that need to be repeated with a certain frequency. It's like a complex physical exercise only they are aimed, first of all, at strengthening the weak areas of your psychological state. Some people often repeat the necessary set of words to gain additional confidence, others force themselves to change their behavior in the necessary situations, thereby strengthening their spirit. There are plenty of examples and visual aids on various methods of developing personal growth. Most of them, oddly enough, work, only the majority are local in nature, and can only help solve some minor weaknesses. However, a competent set of such techniques can lead you to high quality new level. But this will definitely require the participation of a professional, at least in the first couple of days.

Comprehensive personality development

IN modern society It is very difficult to develop comprehensively without making conscious efforts. No matter how hard we try to live correctly, there will always be areas that lag behind, this is normal. Although, almost each of us sees in this our own little tragedy, which, it seems, only we had to feel.

If you don’t delve into all the intricacies of this issue, then there are not so many sides:

- The desire to be successful at work.

- The desire to be able to love and be loved.

- The desire to be healthy and strong in spirit.

- The desire to feel determination and strength for any achievement.

All of these directions can be interchanged depending on your personal priorities, but none of them contradicts the other. They are completely compatible, which means that it is possible and necessary to strive to bring them to life. Whether you can attack on all fronts simultaneously or not is another matter. It is very important to sensibly and objectively assess your capabilities. An unsuccessful start to working on yourself can deprive you of the desire to develop this idea further, and will leave you marking time indefinitely.

Driving forces of personality development

We can summarize some results and identify the main factors that contribute to personal growth. I would also like to highlight the high degree of subjectivity in the arrangement of determining factors. In my opinion, the main stimulants on the path to personal growth are:

1. Dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, sometimes with one direction in your life, sometimes with a whole group of them.
2. Target. It could be a person you fell in love with, or a job you have long dreamed of - for example. The goals may be different.
3. Extraneous factors. Circumstances of a different nature that can make significant adjustments to your life in a relatively short period of time.
4. A conscious desire to become better. Alas, this happens extremely rarely. Such is human nature, we are in no hurry to change anything if everything is not so bad. But there are also those in whom the desire for development lives constantly.

Moreover, the sequence of points was not chosen by chance. The power of the driving force decreases starting from the first point. Consistency is also useful for measuring the “popularity” of the reasons why many of us are thinking about this issue.

The influence of personal growth on success

Only strong personalities can be successful! Anyone can achieve success, but not everyone can be stable, and often, after the ascent, there is a long and painful descent. Without personal growth, we will never achieve significant results, and at the same time not lose ourselves somewhere along the way to our goal.

Success is a product of personal growth, not its cause!

Every qualitative improvement we acquire ultimately produces tangible results. The more we work on self-improvement, the greater the chances, and the shorter the distance to the goal that we have set for ourselves. Speaking about goals, you should understand that one single goal, even the most significant one in your life, will not be able to help personal growth, since to achieve it, you will develop in yourself only the qualities necessary for achievement. It is very important to have related aspirations; they will allow us to become more universal and help us move closer to uniform, comprehensive development. Haste is rarely useful, and in our case it is also useless. A complex of local, diverse aspirations, much more important than the pursuit of an illusory dream.

Useful books on personal growth

There are a lot of books related to the issue of personal growth. Some of them are more useful and informative, some less so. I will present to your attention several (in my opinion) excellent works by different authors:

Morgan Scott Peck - "The Road Less Traveled"

“Our whole life is a “road” that we ourselves pave. And it is very important that this path goes in the right direction.” - Enough interesting job, which touches on many aspects of personal growth.

Jim Rohn "SEASONALITY OF LIFE"

The book is about how life is seasonal, just like the course of the year. It talks about how to find ways to resolve internal contradictions.

Alan Lakein "THE ART OF PLANNING"

A book about how to master the ability to plan your life. Very helpful information, since planning further actions is very important in personal growth.

Paul Tillich "The Courage to Be"

The book is about how to learn to live, no matter what, despite all the difficulties and adversities.

Bill Newman "Soar with the Eagles"

The book is about how to maintain pride and calm under any circumstances, how to live life without lowering your eyes.

And as a bonus, another book by Jim Rohn

This is only a small part of the useful literature on this issue. Each of you will be able to find the right recipe for success, the main thing is the desire to grow, the rest will come on its own. Success and growth!

There is absolutely no doubt that many people are interested in the topic of self-development and personal growth. Most, of course, understand why this is needed. However, there are people who do not clearly understand the goals of these processes, even when involved in them, not to mention those who are not interested in such things at all. In fact, developing your potential is of great importance in Everyday life and can offer significant benefits to every individual. Let’s understand the peculiarities of the process of a person’s development of his personality and answer the questions: why is this necessary at all and what does it give?

To begin with, it’s worth clarifying what self-development and personal growth are.

Self-development - it is conscious and carried out by a person without the assistance of any external forces a process aimed at developing his potential and realizing himself as an individual. Self-development always implies the presence of clear goals, certain beliefs and attitudes.

Personal growth - This is, firstly, a psychological concept used by various directions. And secondly, the process of human upbringing special qualities your personality and increasing the level of your personal effectiveness and productivity in order to increase personal potential and achieve higher life results in all its manifestations.

The concepts of “self-development” and “personal growth” can be considered identical to each other, because they, by and large, pursue the same goals. But such goals as increasing potential, developing qualities, etc. look quite abstract to serve as a worthy definition of why a person needs to self-develop and grow personally. Let's try to specify them.

So, the main goals of self-development and personal growth, as a rule, are:

It should also be said that a person engaged in self-development masters, among other things, a number of very useful skills in life, namely: the basics of time management, studies the basics, and also learns to think through their achievement and, ultimately, achieve them. The point is that the person who cares about him comprehensive development, automatically comes to know many different sources of different knowledge: audio and video materials, seminars, courses, Internet resources and, of course, interesting and developed personalities. By the way, meeting and communicating with new people is another advantage of self-development. This may well not be the goal, but when a person begins to develop, he begins to “grow out” from the circle of those with whom he communicated before. As a result, there is a need for new people. And in many cases it is realized spontaneously, because a person with a certain level of development begins to attract people with the same level or exceeding it, and is also attracted to them.

And the last thing I would like to touch upon is that personal growth not only stimulates the development of a person’s potential, but also contributes to the harmonization of his life, in general. Developing man, along with the fact that he learns a lot of information that allows him to improve his, so to speak, external life, ennobles and enriches your inner and spiritual world, feeds it with all kinds of knowledge about any spiritual aspects of life, teachings and practices. He begins to look at the world with completely different eyes, to see in it what he has not seen before, to notice what others do not notice, to appreciate every moment he lives, his family, loved ones, and friends more. As a result, his whole life becomes more harmonious, bright, fulfilling and happy.

Based on all this, we can conclude that self-development should be practiced by anyone and everyone who wants to become their “best self”, maximize their intellectual, spiritual, creative and personal potential, as well as change their life or simply make it better.

Develop, friends, grow as individuals and improve yourself! Take the first real step towards yourself and, believe me, then you simply won’t be able to stop.

The currently fashionable concept of “self-development” has become a cult for many. If a person has not read at least one of the fashionable books, for example, “How to make a million” or “One step from dreams to reality”, does not practice yoga at least once a week, is not a member of social networking communities with this topic, and does not attend trainings , then he is considered almost crazy. Society has created a whole cult, powerful, but taken on faith without any factual evidence. What exactly is this strange “self-development” and does this fashionable trend pose a threat to humanity?

Self-development as a definition

Self-development or personal growth– this is self-improvement, learning new things, developing one’s own “I,” and developing personal qualities. The development process takes place consciously and without external support, no matter what kind it is. Like any other process, personal growth pursues a goal.

Dispelling myths

Personal growth and self-development, although they have almost the same definition, they are also different. Let us consider separately the myths for each concept.

Self-development

"Dream. Believe it and it will come true!”

Visualization is the first and main concept in all written and unwritten teachings on self-development. You should clearly imagine the object of your dreams, give it a shape, send it into space, the universe, etc. Of course, you can and should dream, but you should understand that the main thing is action! Without trying to make your dream come true, nothing will come of it.

"Your fate is in your hands!".

The belief that everything that happens in life depends only on us. A strong and reasonable statement, it helps to increase self-esteem and gives strength. However, for people with a strong sense of responsibility it can be very harmful, causing feelings of anxiety and guilt. Here, a more appropriate concept would be: “Fate is fate, but you need to adapt to circumstances!”

“Never quit what you start!”

We are taught to complete things from childhood. “Don’t stop halfway”, “don’t despair, try again”, etc., however, if in the middle of the path to any goal, it becomes irrelevant, the realization comes that there is no need to do this at all, then you should think about it . We need to soberly assess the situation, guided by new factors.

"Every minute is worth its weight in gold"

Using all your time effectively is probably possible, but is it worth it? Constant and continuous employment leads to fatigue and even severe stress. If fatigue falls on your shoulders, inattention to details appears, then it is better to rest than to continue through force!

"Think and get rich".

Probably one of the most popular myths presented on paper. Of course, you need to set goals, but material goals should not overlap with spiritual and sublime ones. Just “frogs with a penny” brought back from vacation, a red rag in your wallet, constant thoughts that the money will not come in enough. It’s more realistic to work and earn good money.

“Have you found your purpose yet?”

The myth is illogical in the concept of self-development. Over the long years of their lives, some of the great men of the planet failed to find a purpose, although they certainly knew a lot about self-development. It is better to find a job that will be interesting, a fascinating hobby. If you get tired of something, you can change your profession and favorite hobby– time makes its own adjustments to interests.

“Give up social media. networks, television, etc.”

Evil is not what is shown to us, evil is ourselves. It’s not clear what’s wrong with in social networks? If a person likes to communicate, find out news from friends, browse interest groups, then under no circumstances should he give them up! It's about the same with television. No one forces you to watch uninteresting programs.

“Self-development is the future of a successful life.”

A very dubious statement. Why does a person who attends training have a greater chance of achieving success? No, rather, they are equal. Self-development is not success, and vice versa. Self-improvement is a way to live and improve WITHOUT outside help.

Personal growth

The concept of personal growth is no less overgrown with myths than the goals they pursue. Let's look at some of them.

“There is no time for self-improvement. I’ll earn more money so that I have free time, then I’ll start.”

You don't need a lot of free time to improve yourself. Of course, monks, when they go to a monastery, get rid of the “vanity of vanities,” but, believe me, they have no less worries than a resident of a metropolis. However, they manage to improve themselves, read prayers, communicate with God. You can work on your character and thoughts during regular home activities (cooking, walking the dog, taking a bath, etc.).

“My main goal in life is a lot, a lot of money, and I also want a house on an island, and I want an island myself,” etc.

Let's say you earned money for everything you wanted, for which you set goals: bought a house, for example, or an expensive car, went on vacation. What's next? Is the goal over? And life along with it? You will say that other needs will appear. But what if there are no more material requests, everything has been bought and moved out? A goal is, first of all, a spiritual goal, more related to the meaning of life rather than making money.

“Personal growth is a guarantee of success.”

For total mass successful man is a person who earns a lot, holds a prestigious position, and moves in certain circles. But material success is not related to personal growth. He changes personality better side, making it nobler and better.

“A couple of lessons with a teacher and my consciousness will begin to develop on its own.”

Exercises by themselves will not bring any benefit. A teacher will not be able to impart information into a person that he does not want to accept. Constant work on yourself brings success, even without attending training.

“Not now, but from the first day I’ll start improving myself.”

People have this habit of putting everything off “for tomorrow.” “Tomorrow I will quit smoking”, “from next Monday I will start playing sports”, “next month I will find new job" - these are the usual excuses. You need to engage in self-improvement, as they say, “yesterday,” that is, constantly, starting from the moment you realized that it was time to change yourself.

“I’ll read the book, try on the plot for myself, and life will begin to change for the better.”

A book that is read and remembered almost every chapter, no matter who its author is, will remain a paper publication. No matter who its author is, the paper (website page) will not change anything in your life. You need to change by constantly working on yourself.

In the end

Self-development is a tool in our hands, with the help of which we can raise ourselves if we do not set impossible goals. To achieve results, no outside help is suitable. A person should use only his physical and moral resources.
So, personal growth and self-development- this is work, hard, tedious, not bringing immediate results, but one that needs to be done daily, and preferably hourly. Change, adapt, develop!

Over time, people's views change, this is due to for various reasons, the main one of which is personal growth. It forces you to rethink life experience, find better ways out of problematic situations and win where you would not have gone before.

What is personal growth?

Based on tempting invitations to trainings, you might think that personal growth is a magical technique that will help you achieve what you want without much effort. This definition is fundamentally wrong; you will have to work very hard. Personal growth involves working on your shortcomings in order to improve. own indicators relative to the previous period. This is the comprehensive development of a person, victory over fears and expansion of horizons, which contributes to any endeavor.

Psychology of personal growth

The very concept of personal growth does not imply a pleasant pleasure ride. This is a time-consuming process and often unpleasant. Its onset may be associated with envy, which will then have to be eliminated, therefore in psychology it is always considered as a serious test, through which help may be required. During it, there is a chance to get carried away with self-flagellation. The result is rapid degradation and loss of faith in one's own strength.

Why is personal growth needed?

Before you start moving in this direction, you need to understand the benefits of personal growth. Many generations of our ancestors did not think about anything like that, raised children and were happy, but modern people They constantly complicate their lives. Let's consider what pushes them to take this step.

1. No stops. You can either move forward or slide down. This is due both to the loss of skills due to their non-use, and to the development environment. Even to maintain your level you will have to work.
2. Goals and dreams. To achieve success, you need to constantly learn, acquire new professional skills and hone.
3. Life. Existence without self-improvement is possible if you load yourself with hard work and overwhelming obligations. Only at the moment of rest will thoughts about missed opportunities flash through, which will ultimately lead to prolonged depression.

Signs of Stunted Personal Growth

1. Inability to accept new things. A person tries to surround himself only with familiar things (books, music, films), not allowing new acquaintances and ideas into his life.
2. Self-acceptance. An attempt at self-deception, a desire to adapt to other people's guidelines.
3. Lack of harmony. There is no ability to adapt to the living environment and no attempts to somehow change it.
4. Lack of flexibility. The ability to act only according to proven patterns; the slightest deviation seems impossible.
5. Intrapersonal conflict. There is a discrepancy between the real situation and the ideal “I”.
6. No responsibility for your life. Other people and unfavorable circumstances are to blame for the crisis of personal growth, and not the person himself.
7. Inadequate self-assessment. People fall into self-flagellation or elevate themselves above others. For any of the reactions, the most insignificant reason is enough.

Where to start personal growth?

Training of any kind begins gradually so as not to overload the body with too much stress. Personal growth and self-development will be no exception; before you start studying, you need to at least understand what you plan to study. It is recommended to start with the following sequential actions.

1. Understanding. If there is no awareness of the need further development, but not a single tricky exercise or smart book will help.
2. Your opinion. Even recognized authorities make mistakes, so it is advisable to consider all judgments through the prism of your own experience and reason.
3. Scope of work. It is necessary, without modesty or regret, to identify your strengths and traits that need to be improved. This includes personal attractiveness.
4. Plan. At the next stage, you need to outline ways to work on your shortcomings.

Personal growth: motivation

Without desire, nothing will work, and in the process of self-improvement its presence is also necessary. Motivation, as a condition for personal growth, is divided into the following types.

1. Self-affirmation. The desire to look better in front of loved ones, and status.
2. Imitation. The desire to be like a successful person.
3. Power. Getting pleasure from managing other people pushes you to improve your skills in this area.
4. Work for work's sake. Satisfaction from performing one's duties, a person is passionate about his activities.
5. Self-development. Conquering each stage can bring joy, this feeling is motivation for further movement.
6. Perfection. The desire to achieve heights in a certain field.
7. Company. The need to become part of some company that is passionate about the same process.

Ways of personal growth

You can move to a new level of development using several approaches. Some are based on personal perseverance, other methods involve the help of specialists. It is customary to distinguish the following methods of personal growth.

1. Literature. You need to choose and study best books on personal growth. The method is characterized by a low speed of progress. You will have to figure out all the details yourself, looking for the right steps among a lot of conflicting information.
2. A complex approach. In this case, the following tools for personal growth are used: books, video lessons, consultations with psychologists. The efficiency is higher than the previous approach. On high speed there is no need to count, since it will be difficult to objectively evaluate the result.
3. Trainings and courses. If you have experienced trainers, you can quickly get results; all information will be structured and explained in detail. There is a danger of falling under the influence of scammers.
4. Personal coach. In terms of effectiveness, this approach is optimal, but it is also the most expensive. In this case, the approach will be individualized to create a balanced learning model.

Exercises for personal growth

1. What's lucky?. It is advisable to do it in pairs. First, the couple takes turns talking about the positive things in their lives. Then you need to discuss your impressions.
2. steps. For this personal growth technique, you need to draw a ladder with 10 steps and indicate your position on it. Low self-esteem corresponds to 1-4 steps, normal – 5-7, and high self-esteem – from 8 steps.
3. Sunday evening. You need to find time for yourself, which all your loved ones will know about. During these few hours, you are given absolute freedom of action without any obligations. This is necessary to remember your interests, which are often forgotten under the yoke of debt.

Books on personal growth

Without studying literature you will not be able to grow above yourself. The following books for personal growth and development will help you achieve good results.

1. D. Acuff. "Start". Talks about the difficulty of standing out from the crowd and the advantages of such an act.
2. D. Ron. "Seasonality of Life". It will help you deal with internal contradictions.
3. A. Lakein “The Art of Planning”. Will tell you about effective planning your life, it is very useful during personal growth.
4. B. Tracy “Get out of your comfort zone”. The book describes ways to get out of difficult situations associated with unusual decisions.
5. K. McGonigal. "Strength of will". It will help you become spiritually stronger, all advice is scientifically proven.

The danger of training for personal growth

It was said just above that such classes can significantly speed up the process. But there are many examples of how personal growth training cripples the psyche. This result occurs if people end up with scammers who are ready to use the lowest methods to make a profit. After such lessons, people come out with confidence in their own insignificance, which only a new course will help them overcome.

Harm of training personal growth not always associated with criminal activity. The fact is that development is possible only in the absence of serious violations. If a person is depressed, then such activities can only aggravate his condition. In this case, you first need to get rid of the unhealthy state, and then engage in self-improvement.