9 Small But Significant Ways to Grow Every Day

December 9th, 2013

Check out Trevor’s advice on personal growth in a recent Psych Central post by Margarita Tartokovsky, M.S., Associate Editor.

Personal growth is just that: personal. It’s different for every individual, said Trevor Crow, MFT, an expert on modern relationships.For her, personal growth signifies striving to understand others with compassion, and looking inward when she judges someone.“I usually find judging others is closely connected to your own faults. We all tend to judge those things in others that we have.”

What does personal growth mean to you? Your definition may be completely different. Here’s a list to help you uncover your own meaning and grow a bit every day.

1. Mine your life.

When considering what you’d like to work on, Crow suggested “scanning the emotional landscape of your life.” Consider where you’d like to make changes or improvements in the various areas of your life.

For instance, you might decide to focus on your marriage, and talk to your spouse about one way you can improve your relationship.

2. Honor your feelings.

Take the time to honor and recognize your feelings. Doing so provides valuable information into what’s going well or not so well in your life, Crow said.

For instance, “your emotions all register in your body.” Take “an emotional pulse” by “locating where you feel your emotions physically.” Crow gave an example of feeling anxiety in her stomach. “I know when I am nervous when I clue into my stomach clenching up.”

Read the complete article here.