Everyone needs growth. But you should understand that growth is not just about learning new things or achieving bigger life goals, it also talks about becoming a different person, and becoming a better version of who you used to be. How will you say you want growth if you find it difficult to let go of old habits, old lifestyle, old you, old mindset, and old version of who you are that no longer support your future? This is why some people find it difficult to achieve growth, because they lack the courage to go pass who they were. The truth is that growth may not be comfortable, because you may need to sacrifice the past to secure the future.
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There was this young boy that I observed in the neighborhood where I once lived and grew up. After school time, while going home, he would branch to game house to play video game before going home. This kept happening till after his secondary school. Then he knew within himself that he was not serious with his life and that he needed to stop all those old habits. He knew he wanted a better future, so he made conscious efforts to change his lifestyle. He became more disciplined, learnt IT skills, enrolled in programming classes, etc. He outgrew his old habits and became more responsible. Now, he is a software engineer and doing well in the IT field.
Outgrowing your old self means that you have recognised that who you were yesterday may not be sufficient enough to take you to where you want to go tomorrow. You will even be surprised to know that the attitude, character, mindset, behaviour, and routines that once felt normal in the past may start to limit you from going to where you need to be. In order to move fast in this world and era that is moving with an incredible speed, then you need to evolve. You may not be able to live a sustainable life in the present and in the future if you are still holding on to your past self without evolving.
One of the reasons why some people do not readily embrace the need to change is because familiarity might feel comfortable. Even unhealthy habits may begin to look simple because they are familiar. Some people even know that certain patterns are holding them back, but the idea of changing them becomes uncomfortable. What they fail to understand is that growth and comfort do not usually exist together. That is, when you are too comfortable with where you are and with who you are, the need to grow will become completely or partly nonexistent. Becoming better may require you to leave behind what is familiar and easy, and move out of your comfort zone.
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To outgrow your old self, you also have to change the way you think and your mentality. You may need to stop seeing yourself as weak, as disadvantaged, as incapable or unworthy. The negative beliefs you have built in the past due to past experiences may quietly shape your identity. This is why you need to change them. Growth starts when you begin to see yourself differently from what happened in the past, and then believe that you are more capable. Your future will depend on the decisions you take in the present, and these include the decision to break free from your old self.
When you are growing and changing from your old sef, you will also see yourself losing friends, but that is very normal. Friendship and acquaintances are not supposed to be eternal. As you lose some, you gain some, and life keeps going. In fact, there are some people that will not be comfortable again with your new self once you start to change, and they will leave your life. More so, your environment might also change, and you will begin to see life from a whole new perspective. You will agree with me that some of the friends you made while in secondary school are no longer part of your life. This is one of the inevitables of growing. As you make improvements on your old self, a lot of things about you will change.
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