I’m a Personal Growth Addict

I'm an addict...

No, not that type of addict 😉

I'm actually addicted to personal growth.

Anything that stretches and grows me - sign me up!

If you're like me, here are 3 hacks for exponential growth:

1) Face Fears 😱

Yup, the hardest one first.

Here's a small story.

I have a good dose of social anxiety, so judgement of others is a big primitive fear for me.

Last summer, I decided to do an experiment.

I went down to the corniche, where people typically walk in the afternoon.

I challenged myself to talk to 10 strangers each day, for 3 days straight, while starting with a weird question like ...

"Hey, what are you thinking?" ...

... or a random compliment like ...

"Hey, I like your hair style" ...

The point was to be awkward.

The point was to feel the judgement.

The point was to feel the fear.

It was tough and scary as hell, but I came out of it much more resilient and thick-skinned in the face of other people's judgement.

And I still have 'cringe-bumps' thinking about this episode ...

2) Read Books 📖

I remember the first personal development book I read: 'Power of Habit'.

As I finished it, I thought:

'OMG, a lifetime of experience, learnings and wisdom have been condensed into this book and now transferred to me in just a few hours ... this is such a cheat code, it feels illegal!'

50+ books later, I still feel the same.

I wouldn't have been anywhere near where I am today if I didn't read.

People say it's like standing on the shoulders of giants ... 100% agreed.

3) Seek Difficulty 💪

Up until a year ago, I couldn't have difficult conversations - I simply ran away from them.

Whether it's giving feedback without sugar-coating to a team member ...

Or telling my mum to stop discouraging me from pursuing my projects ...

To telling a girl I'm seeing that I don't want to see her anymore (because of her, not me 😁) ...

A year ago, I decided it's time to grow some and start having difficult conversations.

For the sake of exponential growth, and because I wanted to become a more courageous person.

The first few felt like crawling through mud on a cold and stormy night.

Now, they're like a walk in the park.

And it's so much healthier to have them rather than avoid them.

Now over to you.

What are you avoiding?

And which of the 3 ways resonates the most with you?

PS. Here's a photo of me seeking difficulty by hiking a 3,950m peak solo in Ecuador (not a wise decision).