Growth is not about comfort. It is stretching your understanding, challenging your patterns and embracing change.
The four major areas of growth are physical, cognitive, language and communication and social-emotional development.
It is from these that the three steps of growth: Initiate - create - scale can be realised towards the four pillars of human development.
What are the four pillars of human development?
Equity, Productivity, Empowerment and Sustainability are considered to be the four pillars of human development. This entails the whole process of enlarging opportunities, improving well-being and livelihood.
“The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice.” - George Eliot
For one to grow there needs to be a growth mindset. This involves developing one's capabilities, gaining new skills, learning how one fits into their space and enhancing understanding of yourself. It is through personal growth that individuals expand their capabilities, enrich their relationships and create more meaningful careers and lives.
What are the key elements of a growth mindset?
Identity your current mindset and see the challenges as opportunities.
Persist in the face of setbacks and see your efforts as a path to mastery. Be patient with yourself, growth is a process not a destination.
Focus on your positive actions and talk to others who have also developed a growth mindset to be able to change your perspective on failure.
Psychological tools to help you grow as an individual:
Learn visualisation techniques to help you meditate and filter out negative thoughts. Be resilient and persistent in the small challenges that you set for yourself. Remember to celebrate the victories in the various stages.
Personal development is growth that is essential for navigating the challenges and opportunities we encounter. If we do not learn we will not last long. Whether we are striving to enhance our professional skills, nurture relationships or simply become more self aware, growth keeps us aligned with our purpose and goals.
A growth mindset therefore is the belief that intelligence, abilities and talents can be developed through dedication, hard work and persistence. This contrasts with a fixed mindset, which assumes abilities are innate and unchangeable.
Growth is constantly watering your dreams even when you do not see the fruits yet. Be sure that the roots are developing underground silently, steadily and strongly.
Below are real-life summarised success stories of individuals who overcame challenges through the growth mindset so they could achieve their goals.
Oprah Winfrey overcame a difficult childhood to become a media mogul by focusing on resilience and self-improvement.
Dr. Mocha Lantum, who is the Founder of Checkups Medical transformed healthcare in Kenya after facing wrongful imprisonment. He emphasised the importance of talking to others during adversity and not fearing failure.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates both are famous for their success in the technology industry, particularly for founding companies like Apple and Microsoft, respectively.
J. K Rowling the author of the Harry Potter series, overcame numerous rejections before achieving massive success.
Importance of growth is in the journey and not just the destination and with it it is accompanied by the key principles of success which are:
Viewing challenges as opportunities to learn rather than as insurmountable obstacles.
Having resilience is the ability to bounce back from failure and obstacles. It is the continuous learning that shapes the commitment to improve skills and knowledge throughout one's life.
Vulnerability in the willingness to be open about struggles which can lead to deeper connections and strength.
Having purpose and understanding your “why…” provides motivation during difficult times.
Honoring process over outcome by celebrating efforts, new ideas and learning from mistakes rather than focusing solely on the final result.
Kate Matsudaira talks about her Swan Story - a journey of self-improvement, discovery and success.
From childhood right up to her adult life, she could never fit in. She was overweight, wore the most outdated clothes, did not have friends and even her own housing was just a place that she only slept in. It had no homely feeling.
Besides that she had medical complications that needed extensive surgeries which led her to reflect deeply on who she currently was versus whom she wanted to become. Then wrote down her goals, dreams and vision on how to get there and the changes that needed to be done.
She started by improving on her health by watching what she ate which led to a good amount of weight loss. She then changed her wardrobe and took better care of her appearance with a good hair and skin regiment. She enlisted the services of a therapist who had great experience in coaching groups of people and she was able to make better acquaintances who eventually became great friends with whom she could enjoy life with.
She also upgraded her apartment and did some interior decor to make the place more lively and inviting to live in. With theses growth she felt a lot happier and also learned that the person she projected affected the people around her, especially their initial judgement of who she was and what she stood for. The greatest lesson with the growth mindset she learnt is that unfortunately, the world is not a utopia and people will judge you. So the greatest chance for success is making sure you are pulled together. Nyumbani Julisha Consultants Wellness Life Coaching Desk emphasises that Growth is in the voice that is forged in silence, shaped by challenges and refined by relentless discipline to become immortal. To overcome the stutter is to transform it into fuel.
Growth is invisible before it becomes visible - Echoes Of Insight Publications.
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