Has there ever been a moment when you tried something new and failed? Many people have, myself included, but it's important not to quit after one failure.
According to Psychology Today, self-growth can be described as "a process of developing new skills, attitudes, actions, or reactions that can have a positive impact on your life and increase your overall well-being." In general, the idea of self-growth is important, but it can also be scary.
It can be daunting to make minor or major changes in your life, and after the first few failures, you may feel demotivated to keep trying. There is a large difference between trying to better yourself and completely changing your personality and lifestyle. Both take initiative, but trying to change yourself completely can cause burnout much faster.
Finding that initiative can be difficult, but the University of Arizona lists several ways to start, including accepting challenges, shaping your vision for personal success, building positive self-expectancy, and not worrying about failure. The fear of failure or judgment can be one of the biggest barriers to positive change.
There comes a moment in many people's lives when they begin to understand their interests, dislikes, and boundaries. Self-growth can be especially challenging then. It is easy to compare yourself with classmates or friends, but if you focus only on your flaws, you may become blind to the progress you are making.
Growth is not always about suddenly getting the best grades. It can also mean allowing yourself to ask a professor or classmate for help instead of struggling alone. Many changes are not immediate and may even be invisible most of the time, but that does not mean they are not happening.
Wanting to change does not mean that who you are now, or who you were in the past, was terrible. Every day you learn something new about yourself, and that means progress. You can track that progress through photos, a journal, voice recordings, or short daily videos. No matter which method you use, every action you take toward bettering yourself matters.