Learning in life never ends. Whilst we may not still attend school or university or continue learning in the classroom as such, it’s important to keep learning and growing.
While being a busy mum, pulled in all directions and somehow juggling everything, it probably feels like the idea of carving out time for intentional personal growth is pie in the sky thinking.
But, in this blog post I’m going to share my thoughts on why I think putting self-development on your to-do list is a valuable addition, with the positive impact not just showing up for you but for your whole family.
By the end of it I’m hoping you’ll agree and will see self-development not as something else that has to be get done, but as a worthwhile, exciting and rewarding investment in yourself. And you deserve that!
9 benefits of personal growth
1. Increases your confidence
Part of self-development involves becoming more self-aware, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, what you enjoy doing and so on. By becoming clearer about this you can focus more time and energy on the things you excel at and enjoy which in turn has a positive impact on confidence levels.
2. It opens your mind
Personal growth can lead you in so many different directions – it really is up to you! It gives you the opportunity to explore interests or those little voices that have an idea but you’ve been keeping quiet. Sometimes they might not go anywhere and that’s ok, but taking that idea further and seeing what could be, might be the thing that gets you out of a rut that you feel stuck in and opens your mind to new and exciting opportunities.
3. Role modelling to your children
By making the time to prioritise learning and growing yourself, you are demonstrating to your children the importance of and the benefits that can be gained from it. Our children soak up so much of our behaviour as they watch us growing up. Displaying the value of continued learning and working on ourselves and our future is such an amazing trait to pass on.
4. Better decision making
By continuing to learn about yourself during your adulthood you can evaluate what you’re doing in your life and why you are doing it. Is it in line with what is making you happy? Is it getting you closer to where you want to be going? Knowing what is important to you can help you make decisions that feel good for you much more easily, meaning less doubt and procrastination!
5. Gives you a sense of purpose
By doing this work you are giving yourself the time and resources to consider what really makes you happy, what leaves you feeling fulfilled and living your life with purpose. This helps keep motivation levels up and keeps you going so you can achieve the goals you are setting yourself.
6. Enables you to adapt to change
Philosopher Heraclitus said “The only thing that is constant is change”. What this means is that life, the world and people are always changing. Who you were a few years ago and what you were doing then might have felt right for you at the time, but life moves on. What felt like the right priorities and ambitions for you back then may well be different now. The same can be said when comparing yourself today with the you in several years.
Life changes, we change, and to make the most of it we need to be aware of this change so we can adapt to it in the best way we can.
7. Overcome fear
Is there is something you are afraid of doing or something that is holding you back? Working on yourself can really help you get to the bottom of what is behind that fear, what has been stopping you moving forward from it and give you the tools to overcome them. This has the potential to open up so many opportunities for you that you would previously never have considered.
8. Gets you out of comfort zone
Personal development leads you to look at yourself now, keep learning about yourself, and it can challenge you to try something new or take a risk. This involves stepping out of your comfort zone. The comfort zone is where we stay to feel safe and comfortable but it doesn’t allow for us to grow. It leaves you stagnant and I think we can agree that doesn’t sound too exciting…
If you keep gently practicing venturing out of your comfort zone it becomes easier to do over time and less daunting. If you’re interested in reading more about this take a look at another of my blog posts ‘Are you stuck in your comfort zone?’
9. You become happier
I think all of the above contribute to feeling happier overall!
Coaching and self-development
Coaching is a fantastic technique to:
identify priorities,
uncover what is holding someone back,
challenge assumptions,
create a vision,
make action plans which are in alignment with that vision,
so that you can live your life to it’s full potential and in a way that makes you happy and fulfilled.
Is self-development something you take time for at the moment? If not, is it something you would consider? Why not book a free discovery call with me so we can discuss how coaching can help you on your journey.
Rose x
PS. If you’re thinking ‘well that all sounds great Rose but how do you expect me to find the time for it amongst work, looking after my children, household chores, organising play dates, booking doctor appointments, keeping up with childcare or school correspondences, seeing family and friends….’ and so on, I get it, it can feel like there is no time for anything else. Take a look at my free guide which includes my top 10 tips for mums managing mental overload so you can have more time for you. Download it here.
