Someone recently asked me how to help more people embrace the discomfort of growth.

My response? By helping people to ‘raise the bar’ in their own minds.

If personal growth is considered uncomfortable, painful, or hard, then what idea do we need to market and sell in order to convince more people that pursuing growth is worthwhile and the sooner the better?

Three Thoughts on Embracing Growth

1. Your happiness and fulfillment depend on it.  If you are in a place of stagnation (X) and you want more happiness and fulfillment in your life (Z), then you have to add or subtract something (Y) to achieve that result.  The “+/- Y” is the growth process with all its bells and whistles, comfortable and uncomfortable. Its just math if you think about it… X +/- Y = Z.  There is a pathway to a happy and fulfilled life.  It requires the action of personal growth.
2. Fear is a growth opportunity in disguise. I dream of a day when we all more readily recognize fear as an opportunity to take positive, inspired, healthy, and life-giving action instead of as a signal to protect, defend, blame, withdraw, lash out, abuse, reject, ridicule, remain stagnant, etc.

   Try this: The next time you feel fearful, hit the pause button.  Think about what it is you are actually fearing, envision the outcome you ultimately want, and identify several opportunities for getting there.  I think the most uncomfortable part about growth is the work required to stop the habituated pattern of your mind enough to really think about what you want and how you can get there. Once those elements are clarified, then the growth process shifts from resistance to flow.

3. If you’re growing anyway, you might as well grow in the direction you desire. The truth is, you are always growing towards something whether you intend to or not.  The question is, which way are you growing and is that what you want?

Increasingly patient vs. demanding

Authentic and creative vs. blending into the mainstream

Honest and communicative vs. reserved and withholding your true self

Action-oriented vs. stuck in complacency

Optimistic vs. cynical and non-trusting

Energized and flowing vs. stagnant and stuck

More forgiving vs. resentful and bitter

Loving vs. rejecting and self-protecting

Self-accepting vs. self-loathing

Respectful vs. judgmental and distanced

On Growing Intentionally

You are growing by the minute. Set your focus on the “more” you really want and before you know it you’ll be growing intentionally and in a direction that is happier and more fulfilling.

Hopefully, the bar of your mind has been raised, even if just slightly. So, cheers to you and to healthy growth that results in what inspires, fuels, and frees you. You look so much more confident and more at peace in  your new, expanded state. Have you grown?