Personality growth entails developing a healthier mindset towards your behaviors as well as setting goals to improve upon your weak points. Personality growth is a lifelong process rather than an endpoint, and requires continuous self-reflection plus a conscious desire to gain interpersonal intelligence. It is possible to improve the development of your psycho-social well-being by following our 7 tips for personality growth.
Below are seven tips that you should follow to improve personality growth.
- Meditate: Meditation helps personality growth through the practice of mindfulness, openness, and positivity. Bringing your mind to a calm center by meditating increases emotional resilience and improves your ability to react constructively to stress.
- Be tenacious: Tenacity allows you to weather the results of your failures and setbacks. Being tenacious improves personality growth by holding firm to your path of self-discovery and developing a belief in your own self-efficacy despite all obstacles.
- Study visualization techniques: Visualization is the process of clearly defining what it looks like to reach your goals. Studying visualization techniques boosts personality growth by forcing you to consider concrete steps along the path to attainment.
- Negative thoughts should be avoided: Negative thoughts hold you back from positive progress, entrenching your preconceptions and limiting your ability to recognize alternative problem-solving methods. Training yourself to avoid negative thoughts is thus a critical component of personality growth because it avoids pessimism and fatalistic thinking.
- Only compete with yourself: Competition provides impetus for personality growth, but ultimately you’re in competition only with yourself. Your goalposts and challenges are entirely unique, and direct comparisons to the factors that govern the lives of others are intrinsically superficial.
- Set small goals for yourself: The key to personality growth is setting small goals that are feasible to achieve within a definite time period or amount of effort. Conversely, being overly ambitious with your growth goals sets you up for failure and discouragement.
- Victories should be celebrated: Personality growth is a challenging process, so it’s important to celebrate your victories as you achieve them. Allowing yourself to derive motivation from the rewards of milestones you’ve achieved makes it easier to maintain a success mindset in further honing your character.
Personal development is important for forming relationships with others and accomplishing goals. For example, a person who has a well-rounded personality works well on a team, which boosts their productivity and broadens the scope of their potential. Understanding the aspects of personality leads you closer to developing a balanced personality. For example, registering as low conscientiousness suggests the need to reinforce your productive behaviors to reduce negative unproductive actions. Signs you’re not developing your personality properly range from negativity and lack of ambition, which means you need to focus on developing higher conscientiousness.
Below, we expand on the 7 tips for personality growth and examine how to benefit from personality growth and development.
1. Meditate
Meditation is the process of quieting the mind to unlock access to deeper levels of cognition and emotional integration. There are two main benefits of meditation for personality growth. Firstly, taking time to meditate promotes personality growth by increasing open-mindedness. Open-mindedness is beneficial for personality growth because it encourages exploration and acceptance of other people and cultures. For example, people who meditate to become more open-minded are willing to step out of their comfort zone to learn about the world and themselves in the process. Secondly, meditation works to achieve personality growth by improving your mood and promoting positivity. Emotional stability stems from an improved mood and exposure to positive thoughts cultivates a growth mindset. For example, positive affirmations during meditation reinforce and define capabilities to improve confidence.
2. Be tenacious
Being tenacious means the determination to firmly hold beliefs and persist despite setbacks. You should be tenacious to achieve personality growth for the following two reasons. Firstly, tenacity promotes personality growth by inspiring self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief that they are capable of success and accomplishing their goals. Developing a tenacious spirit requires you to trust yourself and hold tight to your personal beliefs. For example, tenacious people are determined to achieve their goals and won’t back down despite challenges and self-doubt. Secondly, being tenacious enhances problem-solving abilities to encourage personality development. Tenacity encourages people to continue working hard and work past their difficulties. For example, being tenacious leads to the development of problem-solving abilities to remain firm in your ways. Becoming a better problem-solver improves personality growth by improving self-esteem and encouraging continuous momentum.
3. Study visualization techniques
Studying visualization techniques means expanding your outlook on the methods you use to achieve personality growth. Study the following two visualization techniques to facilitate personality growth. Firstly, study visualization techniques that help you imagine success. Imagining success is a visualization technique that has you focus on the success you desire. Visualizing the reward that comes from hard work keeps you progressing toward your goals. Growing your personality requires you to challenge yourself as you learn to balance your personality traits and imagining success motivates you to continue despite those challenges. Secondly, creating a vision board is a visualization technique that promotes personality growth. Creating a vision board gives you a constant reminder of your goals and keeps you in pursuit of those achievements. Having a visual cue to promote personality growth orients your focus and prevents emotions and situations from distracting you from stabilizing your personality. For example, emotional setbacks are capable of causing people to regress to undesirable traits, however, a vision board is there to remind you of your goals despite the emotional turbulence.
4. Negative thoughts should be avoided
Negative thoughts are detrimental beliefs and perceptions of self and others. Negative thoughts should be avoided to foster personality growth for the following two reasons. Firstly, negativity impedes personality growth by keeping people rooted in unproductive behavior. Having negative thoughts about personal capabilities keeps people from advancing toward goals or working to improve their lives. For example, a desirable job promotion is available, but you decide against applying because negative thoughts tell you that you won’t succeed. Negativity is the root of self-sabotage and keeps people from experiencing upward momentum. Personality growth benefits from self-exploration, however, negativity is a shackle that keeps you from advancing towards self-discovery. Secondly, negative thoughts should be avoided because the mindset isolates you from others. Negativity is a mental fortress that serves to protect the negative person from uncertainty and pain. A negative person considers the negative mindset to be familiar and an emotion they feel in control of. For example, your friend circle attends an event without you and mentions that you should attend the next time. The lack of invitation leaves you feeling hurt and to quell the disappointment you fall into negativity and state you have no interest in the event. Having a peer group is beneficial for personality growth because friends influence you to step out of your comfort zone and give you the confidence to explore yourself. Negativity prevents you from making future plans with your friend circle and limits your interactions with them, isolating you from them further.
5. Only compete with yourself
Only compete with yourself to achieve personality growth. Firstly, you should only compete with yourself to generate personality growth because comparing yourself to others causes envy and low self-esteem. Comparing yourself to other people causes envy due to the assumption that other people are outperforming you. Comparing yourself to others is unfair to your self-esteem because you’re unable to know the exact circumstances surrounding a person’s achievements. You inevitably judge yourself based on unfounded assumptions and suffer from low self-esteem as a result. Secondly, self-competition is beneficial for personality growth because you control the perspective surrounding your achievements and failures. Controlling the concept of success and failure allows you to redefine your accomplishments, leading to less anxiety surrounding your pursuits. For example, only having yourself as a competition is a winning game because you define the rules and are able to take notes on your techniques.
6. Set small goals for yourself
Setting small goals for yourself to facilitate personality growth means defining actionable plans that further your development. The following two examples provide insight into ways to set small goals for yourself to achieve personality growth. Firstly, personality growth benefits from setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals (SMART). Researchers Anne Conzemius and Jan O’Neill describe SMART goals as small targets that lead you toward personal growth in their book The Power of SMART Goals: Using Goals to Improve Student Learning. For example, planning to achieve a lofty goal such as writing a novel orients you in the right direction, but the goal is too vague to properly attack. Small actionable goals are stepping stones that help you visualize your progress. SMART goals grow your personality by reducing the potential of abandoning the task and failing to further your self-discovery. Secondly, setting small goals for yourself promotes personality growth by providing opportunities for reflection. Setting small goals provides you with transparency regarding the process of personality growth and gives you time to reflect. For example, small goals are a chance to stop and determine if there is a better way to approach your goals and try something new for success.
7. Victories should be celebrated
Victories that should be celebrated are big or small accomplishments that lead you closer to your personal goals. Victories should be celebrated to promote personality growth for the following two reasons. Firstly, celebrating victories conditions a person to continue positive behaviors that lead to victories. Personality growth requires lifelong changes and adjustments to develop a balanced personality. Conditioning yourself to behave in a way that inspires a personal victory should be celebrated to increase the likelihood of you repeating the behavior. For example, taking the time to meditate for five minutes each morning is a victory that should be celebrated because meditation promotes personality growth. The achievement takes a small portion of each day, but the resulting growth is invaluable. Secondly, personal victories should be celebrated because they increase confidence. Increasing confidence causes a ripple effect that encourages productivity and experimentation. The confidence to perform and handle new experiences results in a deeper understanding of yourself and others. Your personality grows through the self-discovery that comes from new phases of life and accomplishments. Celebrating those accomplishments is key to encouraging further advances in life.
What personality growth tips should be avoided?
Personality growth tips that should be avoided utilize toxic positivity. Toxic personality tips are shallow suggestions for improving your personality or life. There are two main types of bad growth tips that are counterproductive to honing your personality. Firstly, avoid personality growth tips that recommend you to always stay positive. It’s unrealistic to remain unconditionally positive despite challenges and setbacks. Moreover, maintaining a false sense of positivity prevents you from exploring problem-solving techniques that grow your confidence in the process. Secondly, avoid personality growth tips stating you don’t need to change. Change and growth are necessary steps in developing your personality. Personality growth tips that claim you don’t need to change parts of your life should be avoided because they encourage unproductive behavior. For example, a friend telling you that you don’t need to change after your disrespectful behavior causes a breakup is providing personality growth tips to avoid. Changing unhealthy or hurtful behavior is a necessary step toward developing a well-rounded personality.
What personality growth tips should be embraced?
Personality growth tips that should be embraced describe suggestions that enable you to experience optimism despite challenges. There are two types of strategies that foster this type of constructive optimism. Firstly, embrace personality growth tips that tell you to find the benefit in being bored. Being bored is beneficial because it encourages creativity and innovation. Boredom has the reputation of being a negative experience but embracing boredom allows for the opportunity to dig deeper into self-discovery. Having time without daily distractions facilitates a growth mindset without barriers holding you back. For example, guidance that directs you to find the benefit in boredom is a form of tragic optimism, which encourages you to find the benefit in negative experiences. Secondly, seek out new experiences that challenge yourself to facilitate personality growth. Challenging new experiences help you grow your personality by giving you a chance to examine your interests and hidden traits. For example, taking on the challenge of trying a new hobby gives you insight into your preferences and interests. You learn about yourself whether you enjoy the hobby or not by stepping out of your comfort zone to examine your deeper interest in the world.
What is personality growth and development?
Personality growth and development are processes by which a person evolves and changes their personality. Personality growth and development involves discovering unique traits and characteristics that define a person and then establishing an equilibrium of their prominent traits. Growing and developing your personality is beneficial for mental stability, social connections, and success in life. For example, professors at the University of Reading state in “Cognitive and Affective Empathy Relate Differentially to Emotion Regulation” that an unbalanced personality with high empathy causes emotional dysregulation because of an inability to control sensitivities. Emotional dysregulation causes negative emotions to fester and keeps people from advancing to new stages of their developmental process. Personality growth is necessary for people to experience self-actualization and gain confidence to prosper in life.
What are the important aspects of personality development?
The important aspects of personality development are mutable traits that define an individual’s character and behavioral tendencies. Below are the five important aspects of personality development.
- Extraversion aspect of personality development: Extraversion is an aspect of personality development that describes people who are outgoing and energetic. For example, extroverted personalities are eager to engage with other people and frequently participate in social outings. Extraversion is an important aspect of personality development because it supports social engagement and having many social connections quells the feeling of loneliness.
- Agreeableness aspect of personality development: Agreeableness is an aspect of personality development that refers to the desire to foster harmony and compassion. People who develop the agreeableness aspect see the best in other people and difficult situations, which keeps them progressing in life. For example, a person with a high level of agreeableness takes time to consider other people’s emotions and offer compassion to those in need. Developing agreeableness is important because it cultivates a sense of harmony and trustworthiness other people seek out and reward with mutual respect.
- Neuroticism aspect of personality development: Neuroticism is an important aspect of personality development that describes people who experience high levels of anxiety, depression, and anger. Developing proper levels of neuroticism is important for personality development because high levels lead to volatile emotions. For example, highly neurotic people are emotionally sensitive and indecisive to the extent that they panic over their inability to make decisions. Lower levels of neuroticism correlate with emotional stability, which promotes productivity through the ability to calmly take on tasks.
- Openness aspect of personality development: Openness is an aspect of personality development that represents flexibility, curiosity, and creativity. Having a high level of openness is beneficial for personality development because it introduces you to new experiences that advance your self-discovery. For example, openness to accept an invitation to try something new with friends introduces you to opinions and beliefs you didn’t know you had.
- Conscientiousness aspect of personality development: Conscientiousness is an aspect of personality development that describes people who are considerate, respectful, and timely. For example, people who develop their conscientiousness aspect are punctual and recognize the importance of following through with their agreement to arrive at a specified time. Developing conscientiousness is important because it encourages productivity and emotional stability by keeping people in control of their schedules and commitments.
The five aspects of personality development affect personality growth by providing insight into the specific degree of each trait. Each of the five aspects exists on a scale that gauges how developed a person’s traits are. Understanding each trait and knowing the range you register at gives you the chance to adjust your behaviors to balance your personality. For example, learning that you have a low level of conscientiousness suggests that you should focus on timeliness and respect.
What are the main factors that affect personality development?
The five main factors that affect personality development are below.
- Peers and friend circles: Peers and friend circles are factors that affect personality development by influencing a person’s social identity. Peers are people who exist in the same age group or social position as you. People look to their peers to establish a general basis for their attitudes and outward expression of emotions. Friend circles are groups of peers who share a close bond with each other and have a more direct impact on individual personality formation within their group. For example, a friend circle that encourages disrespectful behavior affects your personality development by influencing your low conscientiousness later in life.
- Family: Family is a factor that affects personality development by influencing a person’s emotional intelligence. Family describes a group of people connected by blood, adoption, or otherwise, who live together as a single household. Personality development relies on familial connections to shape emotional intelligence into understanding a broad spectrum of emotions. High emotional intelligence allows for more self-control and empathy toward others. Family promotes high emotional intelligence by teaching emotional regulation, modeling empathy, and listening. For example, parents who demonstrate concern for their child’s emotions influence that child to express concern for other people later in life.
- Cultural environment: Cultural environment is an area or grouping of people who share similar beliefs, ethics, and social dynamics. A person’s cultural environment affects personality development by causing a shift in dependency stemming from the type of culture they live in. For example, Harry C. Triandis and Eunkook M. Suh study the impact of culture on personality in “Cultural Influence on Personality.” Research states that a collectivist culture promotes the development of dependent personalities because of a desire to maintain cohesive relationships. However, individualist cultures influence independence and self-reliance due to the competitive nature of the groups.
- Surroundings: Surroundings are the environmental factors that affect personality development due to geographic location. Researchers Liisi Kööts, Anu Realo, and Jüri Allik discuss the impact surroundings have on personality development in “The Influence of the Weather on Affective Experience An Experience Sampling Study.” Research finds empirical evidence to support environmental factors affecting the development of personality traits. Surroundings that feature extreme weather experience extreme degrees of high and low levels of personality traits. For example, extreme heat causes people to react with high conscientiousness to ensure that their neighbors are keeping cool, and low conscientiousness to preserve their health and safety before others out of desperation.
- Hereditary factors: Hereditary factors are the genetic groundwork responsible for dictating behaviors and personality development. People inherit behaviors and traits from their biological relatives without social influence playing a role in their emergence. Hereditary factors affect personality development by bringing forth specific traits and behaviors that have genetic predispositions. For example, researchers from the University of California, the University of Denver, and Michigan State discuss the effect of genetics on ADHD-related traits in “Big Five dimensions and ADHD symptoms: Links between personality traits and clinical symptoms.” The genetic predisposition of ADHD promotes the development of traits such as low conscientiousness due to disorganization.
What are signs that you are not experiencing personality development?
Below are four signs that you are not experiencing personality development.
- Negativity: Negativity is a sign that you’re not experiencing personality development because negative emotions hold people back. Living a life that fosters negativity keeps you stagnant and unaware of the good around you. For example, personality development requires self-discovery and embracing new experiences. Negativity keeps you from discovering yourself and growing further.
- Lack of opinions: Lack of opinions signals that you’re not experiencing personality development because you lack a foundation to base your identity on. Developing an identity requires solidifying your opinions and forming personal ethical philosophies. Lacking opinions keeps you aimless in life instead of keeping you moving toward personal growth. For example, having no opinion on morality gives the impression of disinterest and negativity, which hinders development by preventing you from developing interests based on new experiences.
- No depth: No depth is a sign that you’re not developing your personality because it appears as if you’re disengaged or shallow. Shallow or flat personalities make it difficult to foster deep connections or emotional intelligence due to a lack of perceived empathy. Being unable to strengthen emotional intelligence and connections results in loneliness due to other people perceiving the lack of depth as disinterest.
- Lack of ambition: Lack of ambition indicates that you’re not experiencing personality development due to the absence of forward momentum in life. Personality development flourishes through the pursuit of personal goals. A lack of ambition holds you back from discovering your talents and abilities, resulting in lower self-confidence. Ambitious pursuits involve challenges and life lessons that guide you to new levels of personality development.
How do you improve personal development?
Improve personal development by following the four steps below.
- Discover your personality type: Discover your personality type to improve your personal development by giving yourself a basis for your behaviors. Use a personality test or analysis to determine the core aspects of your personality and the personality types you closely align with. Understanding your personality type gives you an idea of the methods to develop your personality further.
- Pinpoint traits to work on: Pinpoint traits to work on to improve and change the trajectory of your personal development. Determining the areas of your life that need improvement gives you an understanding of the specific areas you need to grow. For example, pinpointing low agreeableness suggests that you need to enhance the qualities of warmth and cooperation to reflect personal development.
- Focus on balanced growth: Focus on balanced growth to create harmony in your personal development. Balancing your character and personality traits prevents emotional instability and disharmony. For example, an unbalanced combination of low conscientiousness and high neuroticism correlates with risky behaviors. However, a balance between conscientiousness and neuroticism allows for a well-rounded emotional response.
- Practice self-reflection: Practice self-reflection to take note of new ways to improve personal development. Taking time to reflect on your personal journey gives you insight into the ways you were successful and the improvements to make in the future. Personal growth requires diligent effort and practicing self-reflection is your route to continuing the journey.
What is the importance of developing personality?
The following two reasons explain the importance of developing personality. Firstly, developing personality is important for improving intrapersonal intelligence. Intrapersonal intelligence is the ability to recognize and synthesize your own emotions and thoughts. Developing a balanced personality instills you with the confidence to make decisions and self-reliance to manage the results. Secondly, the importance of developing personality is to strengthen interpersonal intelligence. Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to recognize and understand other people’s emotions. Personality development relies on interpersonal intelligence to forge bonds with other people that introduce you to new experiences and cultures. Intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence work together to form the basis of your personality. The skills you learn from your personal intelligence influence your self-discovery, achievements, experiences, and connections with other people.
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