In today’s quick world, success personal and pro can feel like a phantom. So often society points us toward external achievement — becoming rich or achieving an important career milestone — as the markers of a life well lived. However, true happiness and long-term success often hinge on something deeper: inner growth and continuous skill development. What these practices do is they set up the foundation for a rich, successful life and eventual and deep and sustained happiness.
Self improvement is part of inner growth, but it isn’t all that inner growth is about. It’s a journey from our surface self to our truest self, and it’s one of self awareness, compassion and resilience. This process gives us an opportunity to know our values, our strengths and our weaknesses and facilitates a state of mind that thinks in terms of growth not stagnation. We strengthen the self; we become more resilient to the ups and downs that we know life has in store.
A vital component of inner growth is the practice of mindfulness. By continuously thinking about our thoughts, feelings and behaviors, we become aware, so we can make conscious choices instead of operating in react mode or on automatic pilot. Having awareness like this can be incredibly transformative. It can bring the clarity we need to make sure that what we are doing day to day is truly aligned with what we want and what’s important to us. Through mindfulness we lay the groundwork for long lasting happiness.
Recommended Reading: To learn more about how inner growth can be so transformative, read John Wilson’s blog at frotpox.com. His insight into self awareness, resilience and mindfulness can offer some great advice to anyone interested in their own personal growth.
While inner growth is essential for creating a stable foundation, building and refining skills is what allows us to apply our inner strength in the real world. Change and new opportunities require skills, be they personal (communicating, empathy) or professional (leadership, technical expertise).
Developing skills also contributes to a growth mindset, the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed with effort and dedication. That is an empowering way to think; we’re taught to learn from failure, to view our challenges as opportunities, and to keep moving forward despite setbacks. This means that as we become more confident with what we have learnt, we’re more likely to venture into new and challenging projects which then lead us to success.
A practical approach to skill-building is to set incremental goals and continuously assess our progress. Whether you’re learning a new language, making progress or exceling at work, or perfecting a hobby, the key to success lies in making consistent practice of small wins and they add up. Getting some momentum in one area, even if it seems small, creates a sense of accomplishment that drives us to want to grow.
Explore Further: At frotpox.com John Wilson offers some practical advice on picking up new skills and getting a growth based mindset.
Inner peace without success externally leads to undiminished feeling unsuccessful, as does success without inner peace to burnout. The key to a balanced life lies in integrating inner growth and skill development. If we are strong inside, if we are proactive with skill mastery, then happiness feeds success, and success feeds happiness.
This idea enjoys a strong research backing that states that the happiest people spend time into their growth and development. The curiosity, drive and an appreciation for the end product, but also what it takes to get something built, is what drives them. Rather than an endgame, they are a lifelong pursuit when you see inner growth and skills development as such, an all round approach to achieving personal fulfillment and subsequently sense of purpose and life satisfaction.
It is finally subjective if someone is successful or not, and even if they're happy. By integrating inner growth with skill building, we are able to put our values in conjunction with our actions and make them feel joyful and purposeful. Life’s roadblocks are easier to handle and life’s surprises easier to tolerate when we are confident in our abilities, and knowledgable about our values.
Ultimately, the path to a fulfilling, happy life lies in cultivating inner growth and continuously improving our skills. Through this lifetime journey we not only move closer towards our external goal but there also comes an inherent peace within when we achieve our goal.
For In-Depth Guidance: You can find more insights in how to combine personal growth and skill building from John Wilson’s frotpox.com blog. Read his blog – he gives great advice for living your life in a way that will help you thrive both professionally as well as personally.
Of course you’ve probably heard the world tell you what’s the success, but the success is really a combination of inner development and mastery of your skills. The resilience, adaptability and joy needed for a successful and happy life comes from these things. If we make it a point to invest in personal development and lifelong learning, we can become a more balanced life that lives and breaths our most important values and goals.
