One of the challenges many people face when pursuing ongoing personal growth is choosing what to work on next. Every time we achieve a goal or finish working on one thing, there’s a period of time where it’s like “okay… I did that, so what now?” 

And it would be really nice to not have to deal with that uncertainty.

To be clear, you don’t need to work on personal growth 100% of the time. Some people like to do it more or less than others and that’s okay. 

But when you’re wanting to pursue personal growth, and looking for a way to do it, it’s nice to have a list of ideas to get you started. 

So to save you time and energy, I’ve collected a list of 60 ideas for areas of personal growth, so you can easily pick what area of your life you’d like to work on, and kickstart your next personal growth goal :). 

You can “Get Good” Quick

James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits” and famed voice in the productivity sphere, argues that if we can commit to getting 1% better at something every day, the results can be absolutely incredible. 

Clear claims that if you could just get 1% better at something every day for a year, then at the end of the year you would be 37 times better at that thing. (Check out James Clear’s work for the actual math there). 

Put simply, you can get wickedly good at stuff just by consistently making small improvements. So choose something from this list, and take your first steps to being 37 times better!

Try not to overthink this, just skim the options, choose one that speaks to you, ignore the ones that don’t, and then brainstorm some small ways you can get just 1% better in the coming days or weeks. 

Important Note About Personal Growth: 

Be careful to remember that personal growth is not about “becoming good enough.” Or “being a better person.” Too often, people believe having “room for improvement” means there is something wrong with the way they are presently. That is not true, and it’s an unhelpful and potentially toxic way to view ourselves.   

You are good enough as you are right now, and no matter where your starting or resting point lies, it is good enough. It is okay as it is. And the only reason you should pursue growth is because you want to.

It’s always up to you whether you want to pursue it or not, and there’s nothing wrong with being content with where you are, wherever that may be.

Without further ado, here’s a list of possible personal growth options to help with selecting your next growth goal. (Most of which I’ve worked on with clients in sessions!)

60 Ideas for Personal Growth Goals

In no particular order… and again, these are simply possibilities, you may not want to work on more than one of these things, all we’re looking to do is select one that you’d like to keep in mind for whenever you choose to work on personal growth (whether that’s today or months in the future). 

1. Making decisions more confidently

2. Managing stress effectively (at school, work, home, etc.)

3. Organizing (either with your schedule, tasks, or items in your home or work space)

4. Eating foods that fuel your body

5. Getting more physically active

6. Taking better care of your hygiene

7. Practicing gratitude

8. Cultivating an open mind

9. Practicing a growth mindset

10. Being honest with yourself

11. Saying yes to things that expand your comfort zone

12. Dedicating more time to things you enjoy (and discovering more of what you enjoy!)

13. Saying no to things you don’t want to do

14. Treating family and friends well

15. Saying no to other people (and sticking with your answer)

16. Dedicating time to learning a skill you want to develop

17. Spending less energy participating in drama

18. Practicing positive self-talk/self-encouragement

19. Improving your listening skills

20. Improving your emotional intelligence skills

21. Practicing empathy and empathetic responses with others

22. Learning about social justice issues that affect other human beings

23. Getting comfortable with making mistakes

24. Setting aside time to reset/be mindful

25. Do some journaling/reflections on your life to improve self-awareness

26. Working through emotions of guilt or resentment from the past, so you can release them/let them go

27. Improving your relationship with someone you care about

28. Keep track of your mood/physical and emotional symptoms to understand yourself better

29. Improving your relationship with money

30. Setting and enforcing healthy boundaries

31. Improving your relationship with food

32. Spending more time in the present moment 

33. Improving your relationship with sleep

34. Building up confidence

35. Improving your relationship with technology

36. Getting connected with your reason for doing things (As Simon Sinek describes, what is your “Why”?)

37. Increasing your level of patience with yourself or others

38. Improving your communication skills

39. Finding ways to make a positive impact on the world or people around you

40. Improving your productivity levels

41. Improving your ability to focus on tasks/removing distractions

42. Building up charisma

43. Seeking out ways to treat yourself more compassionately (i.e. strengthening your self-love)

44. Becoming more tolerant and accepting of people who are different from yourself

45. Making choices that are in integrity with the person you want to be

46. Growing/expanding your network

47. Improving your time management skills

48. Connecting with or deepening your Spirituality/Faith 

49. Procrastinating Less

50. Improving your work/life balance

51. Working smarter, not harder (optimizing the work you do so you can do more in less time)

52. Engaging in professional development (learning new things or maintaining competence in your work field)

53. Finding and surrounding yourself with people who build you up instead of tearing you down

54. Learning to laugh at yourself

55. Allowing yourself to feel your emotions, especially during any kind of identity shift, transition, or challenging time. 

56. Finding new and more aligned ways to express yourself (ways that feel good to you!)

57. Focusing enjoying your journey instead of living for a future destination

58. Finding practices for managing anxiety or worrying that are helpful to you

59. Spending more time doing what you enjoy and/or things that matter to you

60. Practicing coming from a place of abundance instead of a place of scarcity

No matter what you choose, getting started is simple!

Start exploring the ways other people have done it by searching the internet for steps and methods others have used to achieve your same goal!

If you’d like any help brainstorming, or would like to have someone hold you accountable to your goal, sign up for a free consultation with me and we can talk more about it! Sign up for a free consultation here.

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Did I miss anything? Do you have other ideas for areas of personal growth? Send me your ideas and I’ll consider adding them to this post! 

Did this post resonate with you? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or send me a message to share your thoughts. For more uplifting content, check out some other posts on my blog, follow me on instagram @morgan_barbret, or sign up for the Self Love Atlas Newsletter!

Cheers, 

Morgan Rita Barbret