5 Step Exercise to Grow as a Person
4 minute read
The unexamined life is not worth living. – Socrates
To grow as a person, it’s essential to work to overcome your weaknesses. That’s obvious.
What’s not obvious is where to focus.
The first step is identifying where you are weak. Without doing that, you can’t grow. In fact, you’ll feel stuck.
The problem? Your weaknesses are often in your blindspots. It takes intentional effort to pinpoint them.
The 5 step exercise below helps you to honestly assess your life, so you know where to grow.
For years, this simple exercise has helped me to grow. It will do the same for you.
Step 1: Break Your Life Into Areas
To start, break your life into various areas. To help, here is a typical breakdown.
Spiritual
Marriage/Dating
Health
Family
Friendships
Personal Growth
Money
Career/School
Leisure
Copy the list to your notes app or write it on a piece of paper. Feel free to add or remove any life areas.
Step 2: Prioritize Those Areas
In life, it’s vital to put the most important things first. And so, prioritize the areas of your life so you understand which are the most important.
The easiest way to do it: Add a number next to each - 1 is the highest priority in your life, 2 is next, and so on.
Then, rewrite the list in order of importance.
Step 3: Rate Each Area
Rate each area using green, yellow, or red. If you can’t use the actual colors, just write the words. Here’s what each color means:
Green: Good or even great.
Yellow: Mediocre or okay.
Red: Bad or poor.
For example, you can write it out like this.
Spiritual Life: Yellow
Career: Green
Money: Red
For those of you who are hard on yourselves, give yourself some grace. For those of you who are more lenient, step it up.
Step 4: Pick 1-2 Areas
After pinpointing your weak areas, it’s tempting to think: “I’m going to fix everything, now!”
I’ve tried it. It doesn’t work. You can’t fix everything at once. If you try it, you’ll be overwhelmed. You’ll hardly make any progress in any area.
Instead, focus on 1-2 weak areas. You can always address the other areas later.
An easy way to choose:
Your highest life areas that are red
Your highest priority yellows, if you only have one or zero reds.
For example, let’s say your top priority is your spiritual life. It’s red. Next, your marriage or dating relationship is yellow. After that, your health is red.
In that case, focus on your spiritual life and your health. Naturally, don’t neglect your marriage. But just for a month, focus primarily on growing your spiritual life and health.
Step 5: Set One Goal for Each Area
Make a simple plan to improve this month or next. In other words, set one goal for each of the top areas.
In future content, we’ll give practical tips on how to set goals you will actually accomplish.
Comfort vs Greatness
Most people drift through life. Unwilling to grow, they live a comfortable life.
But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.
To achieve greatness requires constant growth. It isn’t easy. But it is worth it.
Beware of the temptation of a comfortable life. It promises you happiness, but it doesn’t deliver. In fact, it leaves you feeling stuck, mediocre, and void of meaning.
To pursue greatness starts with facing your weaknesses. Then, you can work hard to destroy them and become a better, stronger person.
The result? You’ll start growing again. You’ll feel unstuck. You’ll begin to live a happier, more meaningful life.
And so, take 15 minutes to do the exercise now. If you can’t now, schedule a time to do it tonight or sometime this week.
You got this. Get after it.