Self-improvement products bring in an estimated $9.9 billion annually in the U.S., according to the latest figures, a seemingly massive industry. Until you compare it to the music and movie industries, which together come to a whopping $61 billion. Or the cosmetics industry with a whopping 265 billion. Now that’s a monster.
These impressive numbers tell us that Americans spend nearly 33 times more of their hard-earned money on music, movies, and personal appearance than they do on personal growth.
Of course, the numbers aren’t much of a surprise—our society is driven by looks and instant gratification. We all want to look good and enjoy ourselves. But the data can illustrate just how out of whack our priorities really are.
Assuming we could collectively use a quick kick in the pants to adjust those priorities, let’s look at some great reasons to actively pursue personal growth at any age.
Best App for Personal Growth?
Mental well-being is the most important factor in your journey to self-improvement, and Intellect will help you prioritize. The app helps you improve your behavior, work habits and relationships through mini-sessions.
The Rescue feature provides a set of five-minute sessions to help you get through a tough day. It also offers psychological lessons from everyday life such as self-esteem, financial literacy and much more.
You can also write down your thoughts in a personal mindfulness journal and you can search for sessions on specific topics. For example, if you want to overcome procrastination, just search for it in the app and you will find different sessions on this topic.
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Those who actively pursue personal development have the following ten benefits:
1. Healthier relationships
Relationships—with family, children, coworkers, lovers, and even that primary relationship with yourself—are the foundation of life. You can’t avoid them (although you might want to).
When your relationships are poor, your life is lacking. Conversely, when your relationships are healthy and vibrant, you will reap the benefits in a profound way.
Learning and building good relationship skills is an essential part of any personal development plan. People who consciously and intentionally build interpersonal skills experience greater satisfaction in relationships of all kinds.
2. Less stress
Considering what killer stress has proven to be and how quickly it negatively affects our overall quality of life, anything that reduces stress would be worth pursuing, don’t you think?
When you make personal development a habit, especially when it comes to stress reduction techniques like mindfulness practices, you’ll be better able to identify, manage, and even eliminate key sources of stress in your life.
3. Improving health
This ties in very nicely with our first two benefits above.
The link between stress and health is undeniable; more stress equals more illness. Happier, healthier relationships mean less stress and the better equipped we are to manage and reduce stress, the better our overall health.
The tools and teachings of personal development and self-improvement allow us to better understand ourselves and the world around us. The more you understand this, the better equipped you will be to handle whatever life throws your way.
People who have learned to manage life’s challenges and stressors have fewer lifestyle-related illnesses and can enjoy longer life spans as a result.
4. Increased productivity
The number one enemy of productivity is procrastination. And procrastination is often driven by deeper emotions. People who pursue personal growth as a lifestyle tend to explore these issues more deeply, making them more likely to arrive at meaningful solutions.
The second most significant enemy of productivity is, you guessed it, stress. Our increasingly hectic lives are often driven by expectations of perfection and performance, and when stress enters the mix, our productivity declines. We spend so much time worrying and trying to multitask that our ability to focus and achieve what we set out to do diminishes.
Self-development techniques improve your ability to focus and manage stress, help you access hidden emotions and motivators, and make productivity painful.
Just imagine what life would be like if nothing stood in the way of your peak productivity. How much more would be possible for you?
5. Improved self-control
Self-control, the ability to regulate your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors to achieve specific goals, is a cognitive ability that can be developed and strengthened just like your muscles.
When you’re setting and working toward life goals, it’s easy to get sidetracked by temptations, habits, and impulses, especially those driven by subconscious beliefs and hidden emotions.
By making self-development a regular and important part of your life, you will uncover these core beliefs and feelings. You will strengthen your “muscles” of self-control, which makes it easier to build new habits and achieve short-term and long-term goals.
6. Greater Success
By success, we refer to the ability to achieve those indicators of success that each individual sets for themselves, rather than the standard indicators of “success” as presented by the media (ie wealth, popularity, fame or power). Though ironically, if it’s what you really want, you’re more likely to achieve it if self-development is a regular part of your lifestyle.
Looking back at the benefits listed above, it’s easier to see why this is true; healthy and supportive relationships, reduced stress and related health improvements, increased productivity, and better self-control all create the necessary environment for success.
7. Improved peace of mind
In addition to the peace of mind that usually follows as a result of factors such as lower stress levels, better overall health and success, regular self-awareness and improvement can produce their own feelings of greater contentment and peace.
Mindfulness, meditation, and mind-body techniques such as yoga and qi-gong can improve focus and self-awareness when practiced regularly, which in turn helps create peace of mind.
Personal development practices also increase your understanding of yourself and others, which contributes to an overall greater sense of peace and acceptance.
