My Theory on Personal Growth
See, a few years back, I was just like everyone else. I was really into institutional tags thinking I HAVE to get into this college or be a part of THAT university. I used to have panic attacks wondering what would happen if I failed to make it to the top-notch college in the city.
Well, I didn’t get to study where I had wanted but I have been doing just fine in life. But a lot of people I know from many esteemed institutions are struggling to make ends meet. So, what did I do differently to get a head start ahead of them?
The answer is I’ve been applying a simple yet delicate theory to accelerate my personal growth. I’ve been running myself like an organization. That means I have had to market myself, invest my time begging for outputs and carefully track my progress. I have clear goals to achieve in 2020 with aims in my career and a vision in life.
This view of making myself stay productive has been a blessing thus far. So how do you do it? How do YOU, a person, run yourself like an organization? I won’t lie to you, it’s easier said than done. But for starter, follow this principle pack:
Goals are Important
I’m sure you know that by now. But, let me ask you, what is your goal for this year? The chances are high that you don’t have any. A goal without a timeline and a road-map is just wishful thinking, a seed that will never get to grow as a tree.
But, how do you even come up with a goal? That’s where the visions come. What do you want to do in your life? It can be anything. You may want to travel the whole world and become a travel blogger. Maybe you want to become a CEO of an MNC. How about helping the poor by being a philanthropist? List down whatever you want to do, whoever you want to be. Don’t let any reality check get to you.
Great, so now you have a list! (STOP reading without at least having 1 vision in mind, don’t be lazy). Now, break it down to a smaller part. If you want to travel the whole world, you have to start somewhere. How about you take a day trip to your nearest tourist spot? How about you make a whole list for a year? Amazing.
But tsk tsk, now you realize you need money. So, start assessing the kind of work you like to do. Get a job, become a tutor, start freelancing. Find what you can/want to do, learn to become a professional at that, start applying in places, travel the cities you want this year. And look, you’re already becoming the person you were wishfully thinking just a while ago!
Departmentalize
Just like an organization, you need to start departmentalizing. If you want to be a travel blogger, start today and grow slowly. There’s no harm in that! But that also means you need to market yourself, keep a track of all your cash, keep learning things off the internet and stay motivated.
Now that you have a goal and a road-map, this should be pretty simple. Create a schedule of yourself to help yourself understand where you spend all your time. Accommodate accordingly. Let everyone know what you’re up to.
Start saving cash for the next trip that will give content for your blog. Schedule posts beforehand regarding what to post on your Instagram and why. Meet people who are already established bloggers and learn from them. List the things you need to do and put them in your monthly schedule.
Amazing, right? A day ago, you weren’t so sure what you want in life, but now you know what you’ll do every day of the month. Crazy. But, do not forget to meet your friends and family. Ever wonder why HR is so important? It helps keep you upbeat. Allot funding for entertainment. You don’t wanna throw everything away by working’ too hard. YES, that too can happen.
You don’t need ALL the skills
This is a problem that I had faced when I started working with myself. I wanted to become a digital marketer so I started to learn everything from SEO to Photoshop, I even tried editing music and videos at a friend’s studio.
I did end up learning most of the adobe software but you want to know something funny? I never do these things anymore. It is easier for me to delegate it to experts who will only do it better than me at a significantly lower time.
I learned it the hard way that I don’t have to do everything. I can’t do it all at one point in my life and it is better to ask for help to optimize time consumption. So, what do you want to do? If you want to be a travel blogger but you don’t have photography skills, that’s okay. It’s not convenient, but okay.
Look for someone who loves to travel just like you. Share your plan, get him on board! I am not asking you to start paying people, if you can, that’s amazing. But you don’t need to. You need to find friends who can do things you can’t. You need to get them interested in your project, make your first sale. Trust me, it’s easy.
Look back at yourself now, you have a vision, a few goals, a road-map on how to reach there and friends slash partners to help you reach! Just like a company! Trust me, you don’t need any tags to define you. Rather you need to become the tag yourself and define everything that is around you.
Consider time to be your most valuable resource. Invest smartly in yourself. Track your progress and learn to pivot. You can become whatever you want to be. But you have to start somewhere, someday. And hey, why not today?
Need assistance in helping you become the person you want yourself to be? Reach me anytime at shafayat@shafayathossain.com
