As I enter this new phase of my life, largely having complete control over my time, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how I should be spending my time and attention. Outside of a typical career, personal growth can be a little more difficult to track. Without the traditional promotions and positions, I’ve had to come up with my own definitions of growth and success. Right now, reigning in my schedule, creating my own accountability structure, and working efficiently are my priorities.

Historically, I’ve allowed myself to get distracted by exciting new projects, meeting random interesting people, and generally expanding my social sphere. What I’ve realized in the past few weeks, is that right now is not the time for that particular type of growth. Currently, my primary focus is making videos and writing for this site, as I have a ton of ideas and opportunities to do so–now it’s simply a matter of producing and executing on that plan.

That’s what got me thinking about these different types of personal growth and how, if we’re able to recognize which we need, we can make better decisions on how to spend our time and energy. Each type of personal growth will benefit us more or less depending on whether we need to discover new interests and redefine who we are, or simply go ‘heads down’ and crank out the work.

While they can be blended, even switched back and forth each day or week, it’s important to be aware of which type you’re currently in. That way, your attention can be focused in a meaningful way on achieving that particular type of growth. Knowing this will also prevent you from getting too laser focused on the wrong narrow path if what you really need is to be expanding yourself in all directions.

This is the first time I’ve shared this idea about the types of personal growth, so please check out the video above and leave a comment below when you’ve figured out which type you’re geared towards right now. I’d love to hear what you think!

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