Sometimes the most transformational times of our lives aren’t *obviously* transformational from the outside looking in, or even to ourselves when we’re in them. That’s because the change isn’t something concrete that we can see or touch—it’s all in our mindsets. Even if not much is happening in your life externally, there could be incredible strides happening internally. If you know you’re changing in positive ways that go beyond what meets the eye, the explanation for this might just be personal growth! We don’t always realize that we’re growing until we look back and see how far we’ve come from where we once were. If any of the six sure-fire signs of growth below sound like you, congratulations- you’re growing!
1- Certain prospects don’t seem quite as terrifying to you as they once did.
Quitting that job? Leaving that relationship? Starting that business? Talking to that crush? Whether making big life changes or even just putting yourself out there on a small scale, feeling scared to take action is understandable. But if you find that your nerves at the thought of taking a certain action aren’t as high as they were x-number of months or years ago, that right there is growth! Perhaps it’s a sign that you’ve already tackled some pretty scary things, which proved to you that you can tackle plenty more. Once you show yourself that you can conquer one fear, the rest of your fears have a funny way of becoming less intimidating.
2- Even when things are scary, you push past your fears anyway, more-so than you would’ve in the past.
Guess what? Even if the terrifying things are no less terrifying to you than they normally are, but you’ve decided to go for them anyway, you’ve already done the most important thing (taking action) AND you’ve done it courageously! Acting in spite of your fears is an acknowledgment that the alternative of not taking action and missing out on what you deeply desire is much scarier. Sometimes getting out of your comfort zone is the best thing you can possibly do for yourself. You’ll have so much to be proud of yourself for when all is said and done!
3- You’re less discouraged by setbacks than you once were.
If #1 resonates with you, the reason for your lessened fear might just be your renewed outlook on setbacks. Sometimes things have to fall apart in order for them to come back together better than before. Sometimes you have to fall on your face a few times before coming back up stronger. If these concepts have fully sunken in for you, that’s something else to be proud of yourself for! Failure is inevitable (as per my post, Monthly Mindset Shift: How to Handle Failure with Confidence). So, if you can reap positive takeaways from failure when it does happen, you’re that much more likely to succeed!
4- You have more of an open mind than you have in the past.
As I’ve written here before (particularly in the intro paragraph of my post, Which Philosophy Speaks the Truth?), so many things in life aren’t black and white. In fact, that’s part of what makes life so beautiful! If everything was cut and dry, there wouldn’t be so much variety in our perspectives. Appreciating the complexity and nuances in various situations/topics shows a deeper level of critical thinking. Being open-minded to other people’s perspectives shows great maturity, logical reasoning, and humility. All of that to say, if these things are coming more naturally to you, you’re growing!
5- You’re putting your own vision for your life above anyone else’s.
While selfishness isn’t generally seen as an admirable trait (understandably so), when it comes to your life, it’s actually a good thing to be a little selfish. You only get one life, and you owe it to yourself not to live it according to anyone else’s expectations. If you’ve gotten better at tuning out outside noise about your life, you’re living life for YOU that much more! Of course, there’s nothing wrong with asking for input from trusted loved ones when you feel like you could benefit from it. But at the end of the day, the final verdict is yours.
6- You have a stronger understanding of yourself than you once did.
Something I always stress the importance of is getting to know ourselves well enough to live in alignment with our priorities, goals, desires, standards, etc. If you find yourself becoming more in-tune with these things, that’s undoubtedly a sign of growth! It means that you’ve been doing the soul-searching necessary to bring you closer to your most authentic self. As a result, you can now slowly but surely create the most fulfilling version of your life. Once you start acting on these self-discoveries, you’ll really be unstoppable!
The bottom line…
Though the list could surely go on much longer than this, these are just a handful of telltale signs to be on the lookout for within yourself! Sometimes external stagnancy in our lives can lead us to believe that nothing important is happening for us. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth when you’re going through powerful internal shifts. The good news is that once you start growing internally, the external stuff is bound to follow suit. In the meantime, give yourself a well-earned round of applause for undergoing some easily overlooked yet deeply important growth. Keep up the amazing work!