INVESTING IN PERSONAL GROWTH

There are two investments that I consider essential to my personal growth: time and money.  While they are no doubt connected (money can buy you the convenience of having to spend less time on things & investing time can save you money) I see them as two important ways that I honour my commitment to my personal growth.

TIME

With any endeavour, time is required to learn the things, implement them and patiently grow.  The idea of personal growth is great but without the time commitment, I will go nowhere and be stagnant in my life.  Which is 100% okay- but just not the kind of life I want to live nor that fulfils me. 

Life is busy and there is often lots going on, so it is important that I make the time.  By being intentional with how I spend my time and devoting time to activities that encourage me to grow, I am investing in myself.   

I spend time meditating and journaling each day- especially when I feel like I don't have enough time to do it.

I spend time reading personal development books and learning from other resources because without the knowledge I don't even know where to start.  So I make time to do the research, look for the resources and people that could help me.

I make time to go to the health food store and practice habits that support my journey.  If I don't make time to exercise, get fresh air, make healthy meals, I don't have the energy to work on my personal development.

Most importantly, I consider all of this time, time well spent.  It can be challenging as a perfectionist to put in an effort behind the scenes, I would much prefer to just get the result quickly with minimal effort.  In my experience, it is worth it to put the work in and make the time to invest in  your personal growth.  It's the most fulfilling way to live in my opinion. 

MONEY

When I started personal development work I was so scared to invest money into my journey.  I think it was scary for me because it felt like as soon as I spent money on it I was committing to it intentionally.  This meant that I was saying I wanted growth, and was no longer playing safe and hiding behind my true potential. 

I started by investing money in things that brought ease to my life or contributed to my hobbies.  If I needed certain kitchen utensils to make a healthy recipe, I invested in them.  If I needed a new part for my bike, I spent the money.  These were ways I could begin to shift my money mindset to believe that my happiness was worth investing in. 

I also started investing in higher quality food.  Eating more fresh produce,  is more expensive than the processed food I could get away with. 

I love reading and usually get my books from my local library.  I think spending money on books is a great use of money, but felt it was unnecessary because I could get the books for free from the library.   This changed though when I started reading personal development books.  I wanted to be able to take notes, highlight key parts and have the book to look back on, so I spent the money on the books and invested a bit more into my journey.

The last place I've invested money and honestly the scariest for me was in coaching.  Without a tangible object to receive for the money invested, it was hard to justify.  That said, investing in coaching has been the best investment I could have made for my personal growth. Investing in coaching is a direct investment in myself so it's no surprise that my growth accelerated when I made the investment. 

I truly believe that both time and money are important investments to make towards your personal growth.  Whether it's buying books and courses or taking the plunge and investing in coaching, all of it counts and spending money on your journey is a way to commit at an even deeper level.  That said, a book, course or coach can't do the work for you and putting the time into your journey is essential to have any growth.  Deciding to make time for myself is as important as deciding to invest in myself because making time and prioritizing me is an investment in itself.

How do you invest in your growth?  Do you also have fears around taking the plunge?  Let me know in the comments below.