Top 10 Reasons for Personal Growth (And They Aren’t What You Think They Are)

Key Takeaways:

• Personal growth is required to achieve happiness in life.
• It helps us meet our most basic human needs.
• Personal growth is a fine-tuning of our skills, values, and traits.
• Working on improving ourselves leads to many benefits.

We live in an unbelievable age that most of us didn’t consider possible in our lifetime. But here we are — watching TV in our palms, letting our cars drive themselves, and sending civilians to the moon. Wow.

All these advancements started with someone’s curiosity. Someone had an idea and worked until it became a reality.

Personal growth works the same way.

In my own life, it happened when I looked around and found that I wasn’t happy with where I was, despite being very close to having everything I ever wanted. I knew in my soul that there was more to life than what I’d grown used to.

Personal growth propels your life forward. It shoots us out of well-worn routines into worlds unknown to make new joyful discoveries. The benefits of personal growth and contribution are endless. Let’s explore personal growth and the top ten most touted benefits.

What is personal growth?

Simply put, personal growth is self-improvement. It is the fine-tuning of your talents, wisdom, and character. It requires introspection into your past choices, why you made them, and what you would now do differently.

It means nourishing your best qualities and feeding your skills and talents while weeding out toxic behaviors. Growing in your personal life grants you more opportunities, greater joy, increased self-confidence, and a higher sense of purpose than any achievement you can make.

Top 10 benefits

The opposite of personal growth is sitting stagnant throughout life, never learning, growing, or changing. As dull as that sounds, many people choose it because the idea of change — or the work it takes to do so — frightens or intimidates them. It helps to know that personal growth has so many extraordinary benefits. Here are the top ten:

1. Improves relationships

Diving into your true feelings, emotions, and motivators exposes the mistaken beliefs interfering in your relationships. It allows you to confront those beliefs, evaluate your responses, and make better choices. When the people you love see you striving to strengthen bonds, they will, too.

2. Boosts creativity

Creativity is more than art and self-expression. It’s closely connected to personal development. You are more interested in what you’re doing when working on yourself. Understanding what motivates you opens a world of creativity.

Being creative also makes you a better problem-solver. Creative people can better visualize varying perspectives and can differentiate the best outcome. Problem-solvers always know another way to get things done and have a Plan B (and sometimes C, D, and E) for every project.

I realized this when a multitude of ways to improve my business began occurring to me as soon as I dove deeper into my authentic self. When I got out of my own way, I could see the obstacles in my path with more clarity.

3. Increases empathy and compassion

Empathy is one of the most critical human needs. Without it, we don’t reach our full potential. Part of the personal growth journey is learning to recognize emotion in others and share their perspective. It encourages trust and strengthens relationships.

It also increases self-empathy, which is something many people struggle with. Treating yourself with the same kindness you do others can be challenging, but the advantages are automatic through personal growth.

4. Happiness increases

Growing as human beings makes us happy. Humans are curious and especially enjoy learning about ourselves and things that fascinate us. The journey of personal discovery is filled with exciting experiences that teach us about ourselves, our environment, and the people in our lives.

5. Better quality of life

Investing time in yourself teaches you what your values are and which life essentials spark joy in your soul. You do more things you enjoy and surround yourself with inspiring, motivational people. Living through personal growth experiences improves the quality of life as you learn more about yourself.

6. Improved health

Personal growth improves physical health in numerous ways. Besides learning more about which foods and lifestyle choices work best for you, it also increases body awareness and deepens the connection between mind and body.

7. Change becomes easier

Change is difficult for some people. Even simple deviations from regular schedules can cause a lot of turmoil for people who have trouble dealing with change.

The essence of self-discovery is seeking, embracing, and accepting any change that comes in life. You learn to look forward to life changes and the new and exciting things they bring.

8. Goals are more attainable

Goal setting is a major aspect of personal development. Meeting those goals is a fundamental part of the process. Personal development techniques and the knowledge gained in the process help make goals much more attainable.

9. You’re inspirational

The people in your life are inspired by you when you are making good decisions and enjoying life, good health, and mental stability. They want to know what you’re doing that they aren’t and will emulate your choices in their lives.

Inspirational people have a substantial effect on their community and social caste. They can instill healthy, helpful changes in their neighborhoods, schools, and social groups.

10. Increased self-esteem

The more you learn about yourself and the world around you, the easier it is to see how much love you deserve and pile it on tenfold. Your insight grows along with your skills, empathy, and income.

These are just a few of the most loved benefits. When your journey starts, you’ll find many more advantages all your own, just as I did.

The reasons people embark on personal growth journeys may vary with each person, but eventually, they all find the answers they’re seeking. Personal growth doesn’t stop. It is a lifelong process that fills your existence with happiness, wonder, and gratitude. The first step starts with you.

Begin your personal growth journey today

Embarking on a quest for personal growth is one of the kindest and most productive things you can do for yourself. I base my teachings on what I’ve found to be true about personal transformation and how it affects every part of life.

Take a look at my Medium, LinkedIn, and Twitter pages to see what personal transformation looks like firsthand and learn what it can do for you!