Great topic!

For me impediments to my personal growth are dwelling on the past (I am not good enough) and to stop dwelling I avoid it by keeping myself busy.

It is true a lot of articles out there say “the only way” but there are many ways to live a complete and free life and they need to be personalized. What works for you might not work for me but it’s always worth a try.

The most practical is being mindful, slowing down thoughts, so that you can think rationally and talk yourself into rational actions that will help you to grow.

I personally have to “tune out” for a while. I get agitated and overwhelmed by all the information that is available to us. It’s stimulation overkill. To the point that I seek only instant gratification and I can’t stop for long enough to even think clearly about what I want to improve. So I turn off the computer, not watch t.v. (which I barely do anyways but if I do it’s never constructive), put my phone on silent.

Once I tune out outside stimuli, I am overwhelmed by my own self awareness because I have to think for myself without some other medium entertaining my mind. Thoughts such as “I am not good enough, or I don’t have time, Or I don’t deserve this” pop into my head and I realize I haven’t tuned out for long enough to be comfortable with myself and to truly be mindful of what makes me feel free.

So my suggestion for others is to tune out: drop what you are doing…is it really that important right now? Turn off the computer, silence your phone, turn off the T.V. and sit for 10 minutes. Feel how more aware you are, ask yourself what do you hear, see, smell, taste, touch in that moment. Breathe. All of this makes me aware of my surroundings and then I can focus on stopping self destructive thoughts that impede my personal growth.

I wonder if this works for other people?