Three simple yet profound ideas for rapid personal growth
It just might be the inspiration you’re looking for
Certain ideas have had a profound effect on my life and completely altered my outlook on personal growth and development. I’ve read about them in productivity blogs, self-help books, and even research papers. I personally like to call these satori ideas — Satori according to dictionary.com means “sudden enlightenment”. And since I can remember, I’ve actively sought out these ideas and bits of wisdom in order to hone myself into a better person and a leader.
Ushering in the new year, a lot of us are hoping to make strides in our growth, filling up journals with new year’s resolutions and building vision boards, making this the ideal time to seek out and adopt new ideas. So today I want to tell the story of three such ideas that have completely reformed my personal growth, and it just might be the inspiration you need.
The Turtle and the Hungry Fox
A while ago I came across the story of “The Turtle and the Hungry Fox” told by a monk — originally told by Buddha. This story and its associated practice have been adopted by monks for generations. The story goes something like this:
One time a turtle and a hungry fox were both in a forest. When the fox came across the turtle, it was extremely excited for its prey. After noticing the fox, the turtle, in order to preserve its life, decided to retreat back into its shell. The fox clamored around for a bit trying to get to the turtle or overturn its shell but to no avail. Once the fox had disappeared, the turtle, just barely managing to save itself, slowly came out of its shell and eventually slid into the river unharmed.
The monk goes on to explain that every time we see a fox in our lives — stress, depression or anxiety, we should try to be more like the turtle. He is not suggesting that people run away from their problems, but rather observe our reactions to those feelings instead of engaging with them. Emotions are an essential part of our reality and day to day life. The way we handle them or co-exist with them can mold the way our path unfolds and how successful we become. And this is a powerful way to think about them. Since I heard this story I’ve learned to appreciate that my feelings are byproducts of my own mind, and I can control my relationship with them. So whenever I come across tough situations in life, I stand back, observe and try to make friends with my feelings — coexisting with them in harmony.
The 1% Rule
I was introduced to this particular concept by one of my mentors at Techstars and went on to read about it in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. So what is the 1% rule?
James Clear posits that by aiming to get just 1% better every day or adopting small little habits called atomic habits, you can achieve exponential compounding effects of self-development and long-lasting habits.
This was an incredibly powerful way for me to start thinking about developing long-lasting habits, backed by mathematical proof. Just take a look at the graph — the seemingly tiny impact of doing a 1% improvement every day for a year can lead to compounding effects of 37x the growth. On the other hand, if you get worse every day by 1% it can lead you away from growth.
So instead of heroicly aiming for big new years resolutions that might be bound to fail, I aim for consistency and focus on little atomic habits and improvements each day. By following this framework habits I had been trying to forge for years have now become a part of my daily routine.
“Success is the product of daily habits — not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.” — James Clear
Conscious Leadership
This past year I had the incredible opportunity to attend a session with Sue Heilbronner where I learned about conscious leadership and have since adopted this approach. It’s an extreme form of self-exploration with the aim to enable a higher form of leadership. By digging deep into uncomfortable topics, I achieved self-awareness of how I operate as a leader. As an example, I personally have a habit of taking over a room in meetings and have since learned to consciously hold off speaking to allow my teammates to share their thoughts and ideas first. Practicing conscious leadership entails adopting eight principles to hone yourself into a better leader. I am going to touch on a few that personally stood out to me and you can read about all of them here.
Responsibility
Taking 100% responsibility for your circumstances and mistakes instead of defaulting to apathy or blame.
Curiosity
Being open to learning from anyone or any situation; believing that the opposite of your story or ideas can also be true.
Candor
Revealing your authentic stories to people and allowing them to honestly express themselves to you.
Clean Agreements
In a work environment only making agreements if they are clear about who will do what by when. If that’s not the case — renegotiate.
Takeaway
It’s always valuable for me to have a fresh perspective on my approach towards personal growth and look at what has worked for other people I look up to. But at the end of the day, while sifting through all these ideas the key is to find what works best for me and gives me the sought-after moment of enlightenment. Just like they did for me, some of these ideas might have clicked for you and by keeping them in your toolkit you can also achieve rapid personal growth.
