5 simple rules to keep your focus on self growth

Keeping your focus on self growth, when trying to improve your life is extremely important, but not always easy. If you are anything like me, you really want to keep growing, building those habits and becoming a better version of yourself but sometimes life seems to keep getting in the way.

I have been on my own self-growth journey for over 5 years now, and am excited to share 5 rules with you that I am following now to keep my focus on self growth and keep slip-ups to an absolute minimum.

So here is what I have learned about how to stay focused on self improvement.

This post is all about 5 simple rules to help you keep your focus on self growth consistently.

1. Do it bit by bit!

Once you start your self growth journey and recognise all the areas in your life that you want to improve, it is so easy to want to do it all at once.

You want better health, fitness, eating habits, study routines, work schedules, money habits and and and…

And believe me, I have been trapped by this enthusiasm and motivation more than once, wanting to change my whole life in the next few weeks. And even thinking about choosing only 2 habits to focus on felt like I was not using all of my resources to focus on self growth, it felt like I was dragging out something I could have so much quicker.

But the hard truth is: You can´t do it all at once.

Wanting to change so many areas of you life (if not all) and having to monitor so many of your automatic habits at the same time will leave you overwhelmed, exhausted and dissappointed.

You may even give up on all of the changes you wanted to make, because it´s just too much.

Believe me, I have been there more times than I would like to admit!

So please, do yourself a favour and start with a few habits (maybe 2 or 3) that will improve your life the most. And they don’t have to be major changes!

One of the first habits I changed was putting my dishes in the dishwasher right after I finished eating and not leaving them out because I “could do it later”.

It may seem like a small thing but it improved my life a lot!

And don´t be discouraged! I have found that changing one habit often times leads to attached habits changing automatically!

For example:

If you start working out more consistently you will most likely start to make healthier food choices because you don´t want to ruin that progress you trained so hard for.

Or when you set a limit for your screen time you will be way more likely to finally clean the kitchen because you now have the time and are forced to stare that mess into the face instead of hiding it behind your screen.

2. MAKE Time for it.

This is one of my favourite self growth quotes and at the same time the one that has been nagging me the most.

Because the truth is we all know what we SHOULD be doing to improve our lives.

We know how to eat healthy, that working out is good for us and that starting to work on that project now will save us stress later on.

We all KNOW that, but it´s so hard to get ourselves to DO it!

There is so many other things we would rather do and use our time for. Chatting with friends, watching a movie or looking at houses we will probably never live in (you know what I mean ;)). These are all so much more attractive to us than spending our time doing the difficult things we know will improve our lives.

Growth is sacrifice.

When you start using your time to go for a run after work, you won´t have time to watch a full movie.

That is how life works. But is it a bad thing?

In my experience: No!

Because once you start making time for the things that will help you grow, you will feel less guilty about spending time on the things that you just enjoy.

It allows you to enjoy all parts of your life in a deeper way and in the end, that is what focusing on self growth should be all about!

3. Practice mindfulness 

This rule may sound a little far-fetched at first, but it actually helps A LOT!

Practicing mindfulness allows you to hear yourself. To know your thoughts, emotions and cravings.

It allows you to understand why you have been avoiding going outside today, why you are not studying even though the exam is so close and why you´re still up at 2 a.m. watching those cat videos instead of getting the sleep you so desperately need.

There is always something deeper behind these actions.

Maybe you didn´t go outside because you felt lonely and seeing everyone else in company would hurt you more.

Maybe you are really afraid of failing that exam, so unconsciously you are not even trying, so that you have an excuse should you truly fail it.

Maybe you are nervous about that meeting tomorrow and you know once you go to sleep and this day ends, tomorrow will be just around the corner.

These are just a few examples of course, but knowing the WHY behind avoiding to do something will help you fix it.

And in this way, being mindful will help you to know how to focus on yourself and grow in a healthy way.

You can only cultivate a healthy behaviour if you know how to keep yourself from avoiding it.

4. (Re)view your progress – with compassion!

As I have already said self growth is sacrifice. Self growth is also hard work and does not always follow the timeline we have envisioned for it.

So it is really important to look on your self-growth journey with gentleness and self-compassion, WHILE being brutally honest with yourself about what is working and what isn´t. This will only help you to figure out a better way to go about reaching your goal!

Self-compassion and goal-vision are two things not so easily balanced and you will hit a road bump or two or three or thirty.

You will be angry at yourself for taking the easy way out or annoyed about not reaching a goal in the timeframe you set for it.

But the one thing to remember is: You can always restart!

Growth and habits are not erased if you slip up one or two times.

The most important thing is that you keep readjusting your habits and routines in a way that feels right for you, so that you want to keep coming back to them when you´ve gone astray.

5. Be patient and focus on the long-term outcome.

This may be obvious and if you have been on your self-growth journey a little longer and are anything like me, you may roll your eyes a little at this rule.

Nevertheless, it is one of the most important things you can do, to not give up on yourself!

All of the tips and rules you learn from self improvement books or your favourite self improvement podcast, will take time to flourish into results once you start implementing them.

Being patient has never been my strong suit, but in the last couple of years, I have come to accept that there is just no choice for me but to be patient when it comes to self growth.

And let me tell you:

The day that you realise you have reached your goal ist truly, truly worth it!!

And what is even more rewarding (in my opinion) is when you realise how effortless and intuitive the habits you have ground into yourself day after day after day have become and that you now are that person!!

The one that always has a clean sink before bed, goes to the gym three times a week or opts for the apple as a snack.

It truly is worth it and once you have build one habit, you have the room and capacity and knowledge to build upon that.

Habit after habit after habit.

And one by one you build up the habits and systems of a person you always wanted to be, a person you are then becoming and a person that, someday, you just are.

So please: Reach for your best self, chase after your true potential and highest values but keep in mind that we are all human, the first road may not work and you will not start from scratch when starting over or coming back!

This post has been all about 5 simple rules to help you keep your focus on self growth consistently.

I hope this has been helpful and please remember: You deserve all the good things this world has to offer!

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