Sarahritchie17 The past few years, I’ve been deeply interested in personal growth. But what does that term really mean?
To me, personal growth is a lifelong journey of intentional habits and goal-chasing that leads to fulfillment, success, and happiness.
It’s about being the best version of yourself every day and getting better every day.
I know I just threw a lot of motivational speaker words around there with little context or depth, but that’s what I’m making this blog for. I think personal growth is something we all do in some shape or form without necessarily putting a title on it. Are you training for your first 5K or marathon? Are you setting personal goals? Are you working on your relationships? Are you making New Years resolutions? To me these are all things that play into my personal growth journey.
So where do you start?
I would say that my personal growth journey started about two and a half years ago when I read the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was the first of many books I would read in the genre of “self-help.”
Side note: I don’t really like the term “self-help” because the word help implies that there is something wrong. The way you live your life is your choice, and there is no right or wrong. There is better and worse for achieving your personal goals, so I prefer to stick to terms like growth and improvement.
Back to my journey so far. I read The Happiness Project in 2017 after graduating college. It was actually the first book I’d read outside of school since probably middle school, and it was the first non-fiction book I’d read that wasn’t a picture book. What drew me in was that it was so tactical and intentional the way she structured her year towards living a happier life. Thinking back, this was really the first step in my journey because it got me into the mindset of pursuing personal goals with great intention.
Inspired by that book, I started a vision board with my resolutions and intentions for 2018. I’ll write a whole post about that later.
The next big step for me happened in October 2018. Two of my friends started telling me about podcasts, and I took their advice and started listening on Spotify. I found a lot that were just podcasters rambling useless information, and I realized that I couldn’t stand the ones that took forever to get to the point. Then I found the RISE podcast by Rachel Hollis. I fell in love and am obsessed to this day. The energy she brings to her speaking and the guests she brings in are so incredible.
At around the same time, I was reading the book How Women Rise. It was a great book on women in the workplace because it dove into the intricacies of the female mind and upbringing and how our simple nature makes our challenges in the workplace different than for men.
Using these two resources at once lit a fire in me; it’s when I really realized how passionate I am about personal growth and started to get intentional about my journey.
Since then, I have been reading more books, listening to more podcasts, and challenging myself to more goals that have been on my heart for years. I ran my first 15K in February 2019 and my first Triathlon in November 2019. If you are looking for a place to start your personal growth journey and living more vibrantly, I hope my blog can provide you the motivation, resources, and guidance.
I’ve put tabs at the top for all the topics I’ll be discussing that have been the most significant components of my journey so far:
GROW: for leadership and self-confidence, and self-worth, intentions and habits
READ: for all the content and resources you need to be a lifelong learner
TRAIN: for your body to be healthy and strong; to achieve goals that take time and practice
TRAVEL: to open your mind to new ideas and cultures
EAT: because diet is not just a one-month fad; it’s about learning how to nourish your body lifelong
BUDGET: because having financial security and peace gives you freedom
Let me also say that I am not an expert on any of these things. I am learning and growing alongside all of you. My only hope is to share what I’ve learned so far, document my journey, and provide some of the resources that I’m using.
If you like what you read here in this post, be sure to follow @genuinesunshineblog on Instagram and look for new blogs every Sunday to start your week with sunshine.
Cheers!
Sarah
