"Personnel Growth" by Charley B

 

“You must have a level of discontent to feel the urge to want to grow.” - Idowu Koyenikan

 

There are times when I reflect on old memories or certain points in my life and I always ask myself these questions every time–” Have I truly changed as a person? How do people view me now? What can I do to be a better person?” Personal growth is something I feel everyone struggles with, it takes a lot of self-acceptance and discipline that comes with challenges you face internally. The process is definitely not easy, where we see a better version of ourselves. We endeavor to realize that ideal self with true acceptance of our reality, and what we have laid ourselves out to be. The definition of personal growth: the process of an individual becoming aware of the 'self' in its entirety, followed by taking steps to address the behavior, attitudes, values, actions, and habits that they wish to change. The effort toward pushing yourself to become a changed person comes with an abundance of diligence and discipline, as we push our current competence and strengths to an even higher barrier, while also minimizing the weaknesses that we are so used to.

 

There is always that competitiveness between you and yourself, with having your own structure of how you want to change and what you want to work on. It is definitely a test to see how you carry your strengths, but it also tests you on how far you can really push yourself while still navigating your new potential of selecting areas you aim to focus on. There is no correct way to embody personal growth or a correct way we should be after we have proven to ourselves what potential we have that fulfills us to be superior. There is a quote that I found in a self-help book I read over the summer, called “Personal Development and The Power of Feedback” By Emily Marsh, where she explains how you can never be perfect, but how we can always progress ourselves. This resonated with me, how even when you set back on old habits, and make mistakes you're still learning from, or have moments of defeat, this still furthers your personal growth journey.

 

Personal growth is not always linear, it’s not easy, and it’s not pretty either. You’ll have your days of sulking and feeling like all the progress you have made wasn’t even worth it. Personal experiences as well as certain situations and circumstances make up our personality. It could be a rough home life, certain heartbreak, the type of friends you have, habits you know that are extremely bad for you or even the mistakes you have made throughout your life that have played a role in how you present yourself as an individual. Every little detail leads up to how you build yourself as a person. We have to peel certain parts of ourselves that could be scary and something we don’t want to overcome. The fear of it all is what pushes people away from wanting to progress themselves and this is the hard part, but it builds our outer shell to become the most better and happiest versions of ourselves. We recognize/acknowledge, accept, and redeem ourselves. People can change and be ambitious about personal growth, but it has to start within yourself. You have to want it for yourself and consistency is the key throughout it all. Once you start to recognize that you cannot fixate on things you so desperately want to change or have control over, you learn over time that you can only control the things you, yourself are capable of controlling. This is the reminder I constantly bring to myself when I reflect on old memories or certain points in my life, things I have learned to let go of and accept the reality of certain situations. You can only do so much for yourself, so fulfill it with growth.

 

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