The Only Consistent Secret For Personal Growth

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
- Heraclitus (loosely translated)

How many times have you run into an old friend, perhaps years after you’d seen them last – and realized that while some things have changed, so much stays the same?

And other times, you’ve seen people drastically alter themselves (and perhaps the course of their lives) in just months, weeks or even days.

What causes this? Why is it that some people change and grow suddenly, while others remain the same? Why is it that some people make it seem effortless, while others struggle and never seem to get out of their rut?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I think I’ve found the answer.

Regardless of whether it’s a small or massive change, there’s always a consistent catalyst. There’s a secret that governs all the personal growth and changes in our attitudes, outlook and even our motivation. And today, I’m going to share this secret with you – and how you can bring about this catalyst for change in your own life.

This post was inspired in part by my friend Farnoosh’s Fear Crushing Travel Guide.

Personal Growth Is A Response

The premise I would like to propose to you is that all personal growth is a response to a change you experience. To explain my point, let’s look to the analogy of bodybuilding and how muscle growth occurs.

The basic strategy for building muscle is to progressively lift heavier weights. One week you might lift 100 pounds, and stress your body with that challenge. Upon resting and healing, your muscles come back stronger - and the next week, you may be able to lift 105 or 110 pounds. Through progressively lifting larger weights, over time your muscles grow stronger and can lift weights that you may have never dreamed you would be able to reach.

Conversely, consider what happens at the other extreme when individuals are bed-ridden and do not exercise their muscles. It has been documented that individuals who are completely sedentary over time lose their muscle mass: their muscles shrink and deteriorate from lack of use .

So, if we know that muscle growth occurs as a response to lifting heavier weights, and muscle loss occurs from a total lack of physical weight bearing activities: how can we apply this to broader personal growth?

The answer: Just as our muscles respond to a stimulus (or lack thereof) of lifting weights, so too all personal growth is a stimulus-response cycle.

Personal Growth is Caused By Unusual Stimuli

All personal growth is caused by us coming upon a new, unusual stimulus. A stimulus is any kind of new change in our environment that somehow causes a change in our thoughts – especially in our perspective or underlying attitude.

Some personal growth can occur by new perspectives coming to us simply by the transfer of ideas – by reading, by speaking to others and by learning from the experiences others have had. In this case, we’re one degree or more removed from the actual stimulus, and we’re hearing about it second or third hand.

I believe though, that the most powerful personal growth is caused by us actually experiencing the stimulus. I believe that the more you experience, the more you can grow. And likewise, the less you experience, the more it limits your opportunities to grow – regardless of how much knowledge, or second-hand stimulus, we receive.

In summary: we need to have meaningful life experiences to grow. There is no substitute, and while reading, listening and learning second-hand is better than nothing, at some point you’ve got to get out there and have your own adventures.

So, if we need to experience new stimuli in order to grow – what is the most effective way to go about acquiring these diverse experiences? In my opinion, based on my own life, I think there is one shortcut that anyone can use: experiencing new surroundings by travel.

Travel – The Ultimate Stimulus?

After thinking it over, I think there is no question that travel is the shortest path to just bombarding yourself with new stimuli. Let me borrow some words from my friend Farnoosh who said it far more eloquently than I could.

“In the comfort of your home, challenge and growth may not be frequent visitors. It is in course of traveling and in straying from the norm that your best growth happens.

In facing the unexpected, you come face-to-face with your real self, and you learn your real reaction to life.

You can grow more in a mere two weeks away from home than you can in months nestled in the arms of your home sweet home.”
- from Farnoosh Brock’s Fear Crushing Travel Guide

That’s so profound that I’m going to repeat it

“You can grow more in a mere two weeks away from home than you can in months nestled in the arms of your home sweet home.”

I would go a step further and say that in the right environment, you can grow more in a weekend away from home than you can in a year nestled in the comfort of your “average” day to day life.

We’re creatures of habit. I read a study once that said something like for the average person 90% of their day is basically the same as the day that preceded it. I can certainly attest to this: when I’ve tracked my time, I have found very clear patterns – and the pattern is, that unless I go out of my way to experience something new, just due to habit I will experience the exact same things day after day.

I will meet similar, if not the same, people. I will go to similar, if not the same, places. And I will take part in similar, if not the same, activities day after day

Travel Breaks Your Routine

Travel changes all that. When I travel I spend time with friends that I may not regularly see, long stretches with family rather than squeezing in time with them at the end of the day, and meet people I would never have met if not for crossing paths traveling. I explore unfamiliar environments, experience new languages and customs, and especially when I visit countries where people are not as affluent as myself, come away with a deep sense of gratitude for how fortunate I am.

There is nothing like it. Think about how different things are in the next neighborhood over, the next town over, the next state over or perhaps even an adjoining country. Now imagine how different things are across the ocean.

Closing Thoughts

There’s such a big world out there, and I feel very fortunate that I have been able in my life to explore and grow up in different parts of it and in diverse cultures. I truly believe it has expanded my perspective in a way that no other type of experience could have – and on top of that, many of my trips are some of the happiest memories of my life: days that I spent with friends and family that I will treasure forever.

No matter what your situation, whether you can get away for weeks at a time or just a few days, I encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and travel somewhere. Experience something different. Accelerate your own personal growth, and build those memories that will last you a lifetime.

In Farnoosh’s words:

“You, my dear friends, can walk away from the music or you can go face it. I say go face it. There is nothing to regret but regret itself.”
- from Farnoosh Brock’s Fear Crushing Travel Guide

Want more practical advice on how to change your own life? I dig into the concepts of taking action, and conserving your energy to work on tasks that are important to you in detail in my ebook, How To Stop Wasting Your Time And Start Accomplishing Your Goals

Enjoy this article? You should Tweet This and share it with your friends, or feel free to share it however you like using this shortened link: http://sids.me/change-secret