Ready to GROW? – How to Promote Personal Development

When you hear the words “personal development,” do you scratch your head and feel a bit confused by what those words actually mean?

Everyone likes the idea of personal development, but it can come off as a vague concept.

How exactly are you supposed to successfully develop yourself, after all?

One idea is by using the GROW coaching model. It will help you have structure while creating a path towards personal growth. That way, you feel less like you are grasping at straws and more capable of achieving your personal development goals.

Let’s take a deeper look at the GROW model.

Establish a Goal

The first letter ‘G’ in the GROW stands for Goal. This is where you set the objective that you wish to achieve.

When you set a goal for your personal development, it could be anything that helps to enrich your life. Perhaps you want to learn how to play a musical instrument or know how to fix a spare tire (always a useful skill!). The goal can be career oriented. Such as how to stay calm when taking a career risk such as changing a job.

A goal is supposed to be the endpoint. That is, what you envision accomplishment to being. The endpoint is a destination of where you want to go but is not the same as the way you travel toward your goal.

For example, changing a spare tire might mean being confident you know the rules to each step of removing and replacing a car tire.

However, once in the process you might feel less than confident. Aim for being willing to feel whatever might show up as you accomplish the work toward your end goal.

Face Reality

The next letter ‘R’ in the GROW model represents Reality. You may have a great goal, but what is the reality of achieving that goal? Or, another way to look at it is what barriers stand in your path?

For instance, you want to learn how to change a car tire—an obstacle is that you don’t own a car. That could certainly be a problem! Or you own a car but you do not have a jack.

The idea with the Reality step is not to be discouraging. Rather, it’s meant to help keep you grounded to what it will really take toward accomplishing your goal. You can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’re at. Knowing your starting point can be a motivating factor is you feel discouraged as you move toward accomplishing your goal. Look how far you’ve come.

Define Your Options

The third letter ‘O’ represents Options. As imagined, it defines what your options are for reaching your goal.

Imagine that there are many paths you can pursue to accomplish your objective. So, what are they? Which ones are more feasible than others? Again, this is another reason for an objective and Realistic assessment of where you’re at…hence – the ‘R’ in growth.

When you think about it, you do this all the time when making a decision. Now you are applying that mindset with goal-setting. Hence, the saying, “There is more than one way to skin a cat.”

Have the Will

Finally, you need to have the Will to choose a path. “Will” can be short for willingness. It’s a desire and ability to follow what will best get you to your goal.

Of course, this can certainly change if need be. Maybe your first choice was a dead end. You can evaluate your options and choose a different one.

Far too often people get frustrated and believe that reaching their goal is impossible. If you find yourself in that situation, do two things.

The first is to reconsider your options. The second is to rethink and tweak your goal. Ask yourself if you are willing to feel your own emotions as you as part of the experience as you pursue your goal. Willingness opens gates to more options. Sometimes the feelings or emotions you experience are clues to other choices.

Having the willingness to be flexible and re-evaluate when necessary is certainly an invaluable life skill.

Find Clarification with Value Cards

Even the most well-planned goals can still be evasive if it isn’t aligned with your values. If you’re unsure what those are, don’t feel discouraged. There are tools available—such as value cards—that can help you to clarify your values. Take a look at the Values Cards I developed.

Value clarification, in turn, will help you to set goals and create a framework that will be successful. Not sure about values check this post out, What are values? 

Personal development is a lifelong journey. It’s important to set goals that help you to become the best version of the person you are meant to be based on your values and dreams.

The best version can be tangible objectives such as learning a new skill or sport. Or, it could be mastering communication and listening skills. Or, pursuing the job and career of your dreams. You get to decide and choose what the best version looks like. When pursuing these kinds of goals it can be a lifetime of personal growth.

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By using the GROW model you can create a framework that will help you to better achieve your personal development goals. However, if you find yourself frustrated by this process, don’t hesitate to reach out to me for help. I’m a personal development professional and like to help people create a beyond of a storied and static self.