CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF

I've spent the best part of the last twelve months on a journey of personal growth. I think when we take a viewpoint on our life we generally have one central point of focus. We know the kind of person we want to be to an extent, the struggle has always lied in how exactly to get there. We know the things we want in our lives, the people we want to be associated with, the things we want to see and do. 

I've realised lately that the central point of focus, while important, is not all that there is. While putting our full attention and energy in this, these goals, dreams, aspirations, we don't take enough time to slow down, take a deep breath, and have a look around at the little things. These little things are located in what I like to call my 'peripheral perspective'. This is where the everyday gratitudes lie. Seeing someone smile at a kind text on a train, hearing my niece string together a new sentence, figuring out something business related I never even knew existed six months ago.  My small, everyday achievements that have inevitably lead to my overall personal growth, and the resulting process of learning to be a grown up.  Up until about two months ago I never really looked at these things before, or realised that they were worth looking at in the first place.

I started to get back into journaling in a way- not so much the kind of 'omg so there's this cute boy I like', more in the form of self reflection.

It all started when I had my beautiful friend do a 'three months ahead' intuitive card reading on me. She set out intentions for the coming three months and how to action them. At first I took this reading in an effort to support her new business venture, but when I received it it was freakishly in tune with what I was trying to figure out for myself at that time. I got myself an adorable 'Work Book' from Kikki K. Note the word 'Work'. I realised that day that I work hard at my job, in the gym, so why not continue to work at my mindset further, become my own employee in order to benefit the business of my life. 

I started to get to work on these action points and started setting monthly goals for myself on what I wanted to work on for my own personal growth. I would also reflect back at the things I had learned no matter how big or small.  It may seem like a lot of effort at first, however I've found it to be a kind of stress relief. I've found it to be as therapeutic for me as a training session or a half hour of meditation (something I also strongly encourage). 

This small effort of self documentation helped me to realise the small progressions I was making in my everyday life. Noticing things, learning things, growing, evolving. 

When things change in our lives, or we want to try something new, nine times out of ten we reach out to someone we trust to give us a simple thumbs up that we're doing the right thing, or we at least look out for a sign pointing 'that way'.  We search for verification that we're handling life the 'right way'.  This is a good thing, as a species were programmed to lean on each other and work as a team. However this is not to take away from our own gut feelings and choices. We need to understand that we need to trust ourselves too. 

If you ever feel like you're just kind of winging it through life (don't worry you're not the only one) and really don't know what tf you're doing, try writing a few things down. I'd highly recommend an intuitive reading from Casey to get you started. To be honest I'll probably be getting them every three months now, to keep me in check. Even if you don't really believe in the whole energy thing just that, it's a nice little spot of direction to get you started on some personal development.

If doing a whole lot of self reflection straight off the bat is a little daunting, try setting yourself little reminders every day to show gratitude in things. For example, every single day at 3:33pm, I have an alarm that goes off titled '3 for 3 @ 3:33', where I'm grateful for three things, for three minutes, at 3:33pm everyday. Even if I have to quickly swipe it off because I'm in the meeting, and I can't mentally go through my daily gratitude at the time, it's a quick reminder to slow down and take a look around. 

Self reflection and working on your own personal growth is not such a daunting process as it may seem. Frankly I steered clear of it for a while because I was scared of being honest with myself. Turns out I really had more nice things to say than nasty. The way lessons present themselves in our lives may not always be enjoyable, but the lessons themselves are always invaluable. Be grateful for that and you're on the right track. 

'Gratitude. Is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others' -Cicero