Further development is in vogue. If you type a keyword search in Google for "personal development" or "personal growth", you will get about nine million results, each with numerous podcasts, videos and guidebooks.
It is no wonder that more and more people are interested in the topic as, after all, personal development promises greater orientation, self-confidence, inner serenity and mental wellbeing. These are all things that we - consciously or subconsciously - strive for.
The topic of personal growth is often equated with change. However, one should always tread carefully and not use the terms synonymously: growth does always mean change, but used interchangeably, change does not necessarily trigger growth.
The desire for change is therefore not always the desire for personal growth. If one begins with the desire for personal growth, however, this presupposes that it begins with a change - and is then continued with continuous and conscious work.
Growth is a long-term process, it must come from within and requires lots of motivation and commitment. While this sounds like a lot of work - this commitment is infinitely worthwhile.
I firmly believe that a fulfilled and meaningful life is a by-product of personal growth.
And the good news is: personal growth can be trained - just as other skills can be acquired through deliberate practice.
Personal growth - a skill you can practice
If you now hope that a few books, videos or podcasts will do the trick, I'm afraid you’re in for a rude awakening: It's not that simple. All this input is of no use to you if you don't get to the core of your motivation and continuously act on it.
“The Conscious Leader Coaching" deals with this core, namely your inner drive. During our coaching, we will work out together what constitutes this core and which solutions are right for you. From this foundation, you can tap into your full potential, learn personal growth and lead a life that is meaningful to you.
I know from my own experience that the path there and the process of personal growth is not a walk in the park. My personal growth work over the last few years has led to some of the most intense and challenging experiences I’ve experienced to date.
And yet, I would not trade a single one of them, as it was only through such experiences that I was ultimately able to make the positive changes necessary. It is these changes that have brought me to where I am today. If given the choice, I would choose the same again.
A key to success for my clients and I is the so-called deliberate practice. This means the opposite of what many of us may still know from exam scenarios: Dumping a large amount of information into the brain as quickly as possible, almost hammering it in, in order to then forget it again directly after a certain point in time (e.g. after the exam, when you no longer "need" it in detail).
Deliberate practice includes both "purposeful and systematic practice" and "focused attention" to pursue a specific goal. This method is used in competitive sports, music and even decision-making.
Those who want to be the best in a particular profession use deliberate practice on the path to continuous improvement.
Ben Hogan - one of the most successful golfers in the world - is often cited as the "inventor" of this method. Hogan said he couldn't wait to get up in the morning to go to the range: "I'd get up at the crack of dawn, hit balls for a couple of hours, then take a break and start right back up."
But actually, he did more than that. For Hogan, every training session had a purpose. He reportedly spent years deliberately analysing each phase of the swing and testing new methods for each section of his swing.
The result: near perfection. Hogan developed one of the most finely - almost surgically precise - tuned golf swings in the history of the game.
Practice is good - even better with feedback and sparring
Conscious practice always follows the same pattern:
- Breakdown: The overall process is broken down into individual sections
- Analyse: Strengths and weaknesses are identified and analysed
- Optimize: New strategies for the individual sections are tested and finally integrated into the overall process
However, the crucial difference between "just" repeating and really practising consciously is the feedback factor. Anyone who has mastered the art of deliberate practice - from an athlete like Hogan to a musical genius like Mozart - is guaranteed to have developed methods for receiving continuous feedback.
The same is true in the area of personal development. You'll be able to do simple repetition with a podcast on the subject - but for actual deliberate practice, a sparring partner for reflection is essential.
Then personal growth can be studied, practised and even mastered like any other skill. You can - and even must - choose to work on a particular aspect you want to develop: For example, your empathy, self-awareness, independence or resilience. Based on this, it is possible to take a series of concrete actions that will lead to tangible and objective improvement in that area.
Sounds good, doesn't it? Only: Where do we go from here?
Personal development is the key to a fulfilled life
So you can advance yourself through deliberate practice not only in areas like sports, art, programming, running a business, etc., but also in the most fundamental aspects of your life. Most notably, those that contribute to your personal development and thus create the basis for everything else.
Fortunately, this is now more omnipresent in our society, and it is increasingly recognised how valuable and necessary this kind of growth is for all of us. Many successful people are already working with coaches and psychotherapists on their personal development. And what has been an established recipe for success in the US for decades is also coming more and more into focus in Europe:
According to the ICF (International Coaching Federation), the coaching industry recorded a growth in turnover of almost 50% from 2015-2019 alone.¹ The increased use of coaching offers is not only having an effect on the turnover of the industry: another study shows that clients have experienced half of the personality development they normally experience in their entire lives within just four weeks.²
As an aside, our personal development not only has an immediate impact on ourselves. Indirectly, it also influences our environment: if we change ourselves and how we deal with other people, this naturally also has an effect on those with whom we interact in our immediate environment.
Some know this as the so-called butterfly effect. With one small change - like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, a hurricane can be felt on the other side of the world. Similarly, imagine the huge changes that a single change can make in today's hyper-connected society.
The Conscious Leader Coaching - your foundation for personal development and mental well-being
If you want to get to grips with the subject of personal development, you are guaranteed to find something - that much is certain. However, finding the right one for you in the jungle of offers is not that easy. Maybe you feel directly addressed by a very specific topic or a special community - then this could certainly be a good start.
However, if you want to dive into the topic holistically and thus also achieve a sustainable change in your life, it is worth taking a look at "The Conscious Leader" coaching for you.
I see the coaching programme as a foundational training in personal development and mental wellbeing. During the coaching, which lasts several months, you will be given the necessary tools to work consciously on your personal growth in the long term.
The coaching is based on the latest findings in neuroscience, developmental science and psychology. In several sections, we look at the topics of personal development and mental wellbeing and, with the help of focused attention, you first learn to become aware of the symptoms (what), then to understand them in depth (why) and finally to make lasting changes (how).
Each section is accompanied by intensive 1:1 coaching, so that your personal growth is amplified to the maximum through direct and continuous feedback. You will see that growth and therefore change and goal achievement are possible through deliberate practice. You will quickly come to see that the investment in yourself pays off: In an improvement of all areas of your life.
One of my coachees went so far as to say: "For many years, my naïveté taught me that other skills were far more important to acquire than discovering and working on unconscious blockages and limiting beliefs. I couldn’t have been more wrong."
I can hardly find a better closing sentence. We all invest vast amounts of time and money - but not always in ourselves and our personal growth. Yet this is the basis for everything that makes us happy and successful in our own way!
If you want to take this step and take responsibility for yourself, then I invite you to be courageous - and if you so wish, we can take this step together!
Book your free coaching session now.
¹ ICF (2020). 2020 ICF Global Coaching Study. Executive Summary. International Coach Federation.
² Roberts, B. W., Luo, J., Briley, D. A., Chow, P. I., Su, R., & Hill, P. L. (2017). A systematic review of personality trait change through intervention. Psychological Bulletin, 143(2), 117–141. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000088
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