Personal growth or personal development is something everyone is interested in but no one wants to work.
One reason for this is total confusion about how to go about it.
Right today, it seems everyone has become a coach. I have seen a 13-year old Public speaking expert encouraging the world to 66 years old wanting to get into storytelling.
So, everyone has a product to sell and online marketing has become so effective that we get convinced that their product is the missing piece for our life transformation.
you revisit a month or two later, you are richer by the number of courses you have, few new perspectives that you had not thought about but you still feel you haven’t moved an inch.
The feeling of being stuck hits us hard and there comes a new coach with his or her course to get us unstuck and the cycle repeats.
Look, I am a coach myself and I do have a product to sell. So, I cannot and will not be blaming any of the coaches trying to sell their products to us.
Almost every coach has the best of intention for us. They want to teach and help us get better.
The problem lies with us, not them.
We need to know what exactly we need to do and how do we go about taking the right actions at the right time so that we make progress – tangible, measurable progress.
For this, I have a simple 4 step process that you can follow. Here, every step is important. We cannot give too much preference to one step over another. Doing so will make us get caught up in its own bubble. We need to give time to each step almost every day or at least once a week so that we stride forward.
- Create
- Consume
- Communicate
- Correct
These are the 4 steps. Let’s look at them in closer detail
Create
We all are born creators. It is more true today than ever before where it is so easy for us to create something – an app, a game, a website or even a physical product. Regardless, it may not be clear as what should we be creating?
In this craze of creating a new shiny product that goes viral, you miss the first and the most important product that you can create – yourself, your personal brand.
Do, whether you have a product or not, a specific amount of time has to be kept aside to developing your most empowered perspective, showcasing your most confident self and differentiating yourself from the crowd of competition.
Consume
We may not have the best product and even if we have one, there is always scope to improve it even more.
This is where you can invest time into books, blogs and the best courses which will help you learn what is necessary to improve your creation process or the final product you create.
Consume is the second step for a reason. You need to have clarity on what you are creating before you consume otherwise you get caught up in the consumption bubble.
The key here is to keep the focus on the product you are creating and consuming to aid that creation process. Avoid all other consumptions vehemently.
Communicate
What is equally critical is the 3rd step which most of us miss. It is extremely important to invest time every day to communicate with the outside world, to our network, friends, pros, peers, prospects and customers.
It is not any random pointless communication but rather an earnest effort to share value by expressing where you are at, what your new learns are, how you think it will help your audience and the challenges that you are facing, the help you need and so on.
The best way to do this is by showing up on your preferred social media and share your thoughts every day or at least every week.
The process of reaching out to the world consistently ticks many boxes. The biggest among all is it adds credibility to who you are as a professional, whatever you may be your profession.
Creation and Consumption could create its own bubbles with thick, invisible walls we get unknowingly locked into. The 3rd step of Communication leaves no chance for these bubbles to form.
Correct
Finally, the most important purpose of communication is not just to share your side of the story but more importantly what others have to say about it.
Constantly listening to your prospects, customers and collaborative competitors help you shape your creation process towards building the best product the world has seen.
The product may be something you create or it could be your personal brand.
Incorporating these 4 steps into your everyday life will help you attain the fastest professional and personal growth possible.
If you need help in any of the steps, drop me a line at consult at harishmarnad.com & I will help you get clarity and move forward.
As I come to the end of this article, I have completed the 3 steps of the process for today.
Here is the 4th step – Tell me how was this article? What did you like and what is the one thing you want me to change?
Look forward to your thoughts in the comments below.
