Today, we’re talking personal growth in honor of a recent Fools in Love Podcast episode. In the episode, Brandon and I share the “10 commandments” of personal growth. These commandments are our observations of the main ideas that every self help/personal growth guru talks about in their books, podcasts, and social media posts.
Of course, we, as fellow personal growth fans, also believe in the power behind these ideas and talk about versions of these as well. So this blog post is really part crash course in every book ever written on personal growth, and part a fun, goofy post.
Here we go!
1.Thou shall not sleep in.
Everyone who’s anyone in personal growth sings the praises of waking up early. After all, in a world where we are all busy and no one has any time, this is the ONE place you might actually find yourself some time. So let’s dive into what not sleeping in looks like just a bit.
a. Wake up at least one hour early.
Brandon and I actually opt to wake about 2 hours before the kids…and that’s because while most days, it IS 2 hours, we never know when our youngest might start crying at 5 am..and we want to be sure we’re up before him.
b. Establish morning routine
What do you do with the extra 1+ hour in your AM? That’s where you’ll need your morning routine! It looks a little different for everyone, but basically you want to start your day the same each day (yes, even weekends) to set yourself up for success.
c. Set daily intentions.
Your morning routine is where you’ll get to decide what the day will bring. Your attitude, your plans, everything…starts here in the one hour time you’ve created.
d. Lets not forget gratitude!
Any respectable personal growth advocate will be sure to tell you to start your day with gratitude. Whether you write a list of 10 things you’re grateful for or start your day by thanking the Lord for his provision and blessings, gratitude is a non-negotiable part of your morning.
2. Thou shall drink water.
Drink, like, a full lake of water. Every day. 😉 But seriously. Once you become addicted to water-drinking, you can hardly live without it. In this family, all four of us take our water bottles with us for every outing. Even if it’s to run out for ten minutes. We always, always have our reusable water bottles.
3. Thou shall move thy body (exercise).
You can’t be living your best life if all parts of you are not being strengthened, right?! Therefore, even if we are “in shape” we still need to be working out and keeping our bodies strong.
4. Thou shall not fear failure.
I am a recovering perfectionist. I never, ever, lived by “done is better than perfect.” Oh no. I thought everything I did should be perfect on the first try. So learning to not fear failure is an ongoing process and one that I’ve ONLY begun to learn because I have actually failed. But those hard times and those failures are where we learn and grow. Too bad it took me til my 30s to grasp that.
5. Thou shall plan thy week.
You will NOT accomplish your goals and make progress on anything if you don’t set aside time to work on those goals. So PLAN YOUR WEEK. Take the time to make your schedule..and include time for working on your goals, working out, and relaxation.
6. Thou shall choose community wisely.
This one is the idea that who you surround yourself with matters. If you want to strive for more, to be better tomorrow than you are today, then you can’t do life only with those who are complacent. They will not encourage you to reach higher–not because they are bad people, but because they don’t get wanting more. You can still have them in your life, of course, but you need to also find people who lift you up, encourage you, motivate you, and know more than you.
7. Thou shall do it anyway.
Oh, motivation. Why do you never stick around??? Well, even if motivation wants to run out the door every day, you still gotta decide to make progress anyway. Don’t feel like working on that project? Do it for an hour. Don’t want to work out? Go run a few miles. As our good friends over at Nike would say…Just Do It. (Haha)
8. Thou shall not talk negatively to thyself.
We are all our own worst enemies. #amiright But as I’ve gotten more into changing my life through changing my behaviors, I have come to realize: this is a BIG deal. One of the behaviors we all have that holds us back is how much crap we talk about ourselves. When you’re tempted to tell yourself what failure/joke/bad person you are…replace that with something GOOD about you. And keep doing that til you start to believe that you are a capable person with a lot to offer.
9. Thou shall have a growth mindset.
Choose to grow. Choose to pursue a better life and a better version of yourself. You don’t have to be the same person you’ve always been. You can change right now.
10. Thou shall not use excuses.
Ughhhhhh the dreaded excuses. I actually just wrote a blog post about 5 fitness excuses we need to remove from our lives (you can find that post HERE), but those ideas translate to more than just fitness. We will find every excuse in the book to stay like we are because that is comfortable and safe. Growing, learning, and changing can hurt and can lead to failure. But excuses don’t help us…they only keep us from becoming who we are meant to be.
If you’d like to hear more about the 10 Commandments of Personal Growth, please check out the Fools in Love Podcast episode HERE!
