The last thing I wanted to do today was sweat. Working out means sweating, and sweating means I have to wash my hair. And then I have to style it, wait for it to dry, (thick, curly, hair takes longer to dry), and then head out to my office. If that was all that bothered me about working out, I’d jump on it, instead, I have fear. Fear of injury. Rightly so, I have had six surgeries on my two arms. I am scared to re-injure them. Each time I’d get so close to strengthening enough to lift 8 to 10 pound weights, another surgery would happen.
Nevertheless, I sweated today! I challenged myself to lift a simple 4 pound weight with 3 sets with 20 reps. I did five different arm exercises. As I neared the 15 mark my brain began to complain. Stop. You made it far enough. I persisted. I felt stronger and in control of me. As you develop a plan to take personal growth efforts to the level you want, you’ll discover an inner strength you didn’t know you had. You’ll tap into potential, hidden behind frustration and insecurity. Out of the ashes rises the healing power of personal growth.
When you openly embrace a plan for personal growth you may begin to notice some benefits. You’ll begin to know more, think clearer, and possibly feel optimistic. Others even notice it when you start changing. Growth is something to embrace, even if it feels uncomfortable. To grow as an individual requires time and effort. As you build your personal growth mastery, you’ll gain valuable strategies to build a knowledge muscle in your mind.
As you learn more about who you are, you begin to see things from a different approach. Your life becomes meaningful as you develop ways to know exactly who you are. You’ll develop a personal voice, both internally and externally which matches your value system. Each time you tap into your potential, knowledge and purpose is strengthened. As these two traits become solidified, you’ll continue to expand your mindset.
A personal voice, comes from understanding the way you talk to yourself. Clients I work with learn about how to challenging incoming negative thought patterns and thereby changing the way they talk to themselves. Sometimes, they begin to catch how they talk internally about their partners, children, and family. As they change, it’s easier for them to stop negative self-talk. They learn to accept themselves, failings and all and still continue to grow.
Acceptance of you, your personal self, is part of the process. Honing the cheerleading voice, though, that takes time. You’ll need to embrace mistakes and successes equally. Even though you have areas of your life, which might bother you, look at each area with compassion. We tend to be hypercritical of ourselves, which leads to hypocriticalness of others.
Self-criticism has its place in our life, and in helping others grow. The essential trait is knowing how much to say and when to step back and allow others the freedom to grow at their own pace.
Once you can accept all of you, even the parts you find less than perfect, realize you can improve yourself a little bit each day. Personal awareness is key to validating the broken places of our bodies and minds. If you are working out, recognize it takes time to get your body in shape, especially after surgeries.
Each time you recover from any procedure it takes time to recover. The longer you wait, the long it takes. Fear stops us from advancing. As you heal and grow, allow your body some time to adjust. Don’t expect a model’s body if you are just beginning to workout.
Challenging your inner person to grow is exhilarating and invigorating. How do I know this? After spending many years writing academic papers on subjects pertaining to sociology and psychology, I had to invest time in exploration of topic versus personal preference. During the process I began to know exactly who I am and what I want out of life.
As you develop the inner explorer, you’ll gain confidence. Consistently engaged in a plan of self-development, you’ll begin to better recognize your talents and abilities. Remember, to grow as an individual requires time and effort.
If you aren’t consistently working to make yourself emotionally stronger or smarter, then you’re likely to become stagnant — personally, professionally, and spiritually.
The ability to allow yourself to grow and develop new strategies to succeed in life: exercise, nutrition, hobbies, career, academia, and so forth. Even when you explain to others how you are continuing to pursue excellence one step at a time, they may not comprehend what you are doing: personal growth and development. You know who you are and what you need to do to get to the next level. Take care of your mental health, your physical health, and the confidence will soar, as well as the connections you make with others through the process.
~Just a thought by Pamela
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This post was previously published on Change Your Mind Change Your Life.
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