Personal growth requires an open mindset and the willingness to learn from everyone. Each person has different knowledge, skills, and experiences that you can learn and apply to improve yourself.
Avoid saying “Everyone is different”
Even though everyone looks different and might like other things or have different knowledge and experience - their knowledge and experience can also help you. We use the same knowledge and skills to become successful. The difference is how you use the knowledge and skills. There are unlimited ways to apply the same knowledge and skills. You must use your creativity and apply what you learn from others to fit your life successfully.
If you have difficulty applying what you learn from others in your life, it is not that the knowledge is useless for you, but your lack of creativity. You will miss many opportunities to learn from others and improve yourself when you dismiss what others share by saying, “Everyone is different.”
Avoid saying “Others won’t understand”
No matter what you are going through, thousands and millions of people have gone through the same things you have. Your life is not that different from others. Even though others’ experiences might not be 100% similar to yours, that does not mean they do not understand.
You might be going through different struggles in life, but the emotions you feel are the same as others. If you feel sad, others also experience sadness. Even though you develop sadness for a different reason than others, the process of overcoming sadness is the same. For example, it is like when you have a drinking problem, and you attend AA meetings to help you overcome it. Even though different people have different reasons for their drinking problems, the steps to overcome the addiction are the same.
Saying that “Others won’t understand” often leads to loneliness and the possibility of not seeking support to solve your problems. This statement prevents you from learning from others. Always remember that if others have overcome something, you can use the same knowledge and creativity to apply it successfully to your situation. Be willing to test out what works for others and see if it works for you before saying “Others won’t understand.”
Avoid saying “This is who I am/this is not who I am”
It does not matter what traits you are born with or lack thereof, you can always learn to develop or improve them. For example, some people are born with a higher math skill level than others. If you are born with a lower math skill than others, you can always learn to improve it. For example, studies have shown that males are born with a stronger aggressive gene. However, if you are a male, you can learn to manage your aggression and not let it control you and prevent it from escalating.
If you have a negative habit, you can learn to eliminate it and develop a new one. Many of our habits are built, not born. For example, if you start developing a negative habit at a young age and never learn how to eliminate it early on, it will build and strengthen as you become an adult. Sometimes, you might think you are born with that habit, but it starts and develops at a young age.
If you believe that you are born with certain traits or habits and there is nothing you can do to improve them, then you are unlikely to find ways to improve yourself because you have accepted it. You are also unlikely to learn from others who have overcome the same habit because you believe it is part of your identity.
No matter how long you have negative habits, you can relearn and develop better habits. Whatever habits you see are great in others, you can also learn to create them. Anything is learnable.
Avoid saying “This is how it has been done”
It does not matter how long something has been done; you can break it and learn a new path to become a better person. If you believe you must follow a routine because it has been passed down from generation to generation without knowing why, you are unlikely to learn new ways to break it.
You must learn to break the cycle if something is negative or not working for you. We tend to accept that we should keep a routine because we can’t find a way to break it. However, no matter how long you have been doing something, do not give up. There is another solution out there. Breaking unhealthy routines is the best opportunity to develop your personal growth.
Bonus video tip: Areas to grow your personal development
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