Find Personal Growth Motivation by Remembering your WHY

Personal development is hard. 

It takes intentionality. Forethought. Effort. Dedication. Discipline. It’s sometimes painful. The benefits are often far in the future. Do I believe it’s worth it? 1000%. Does pretending it’s easy help? No.

Remembering WHY you’re pursuing personal growth can provide the motivation you need to keep going. Your WHY can be a lot of things—more physical energy, greater peace, better relationships, a deeper sense of purpose, connecting with your Higher Power, healing a wound from your past, and the list goes on. 

I recently had a flash of personal WHY clarity when I read the following quote:

The only person who can answer the questions posed by the often painful challenges of aging is the person we will be in the moment we confront those circumstances. The shaping of that person into someone with greater wisdom and equanimity can begin in this moment.

Kathleen Dowling Singh in The Grace in Aging: Awaken as You Grown Older

I’m fifty-three. Not terribly old, but certainly not young. I’m closer to the end of my life than the beginning. As I look ahead to the questions aging brings, I’m reminded that the best thing I can bring to an unknown future is a mature version of myself. Improving my emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical health now not only benefits me in the short term, but will also make the inevitable struggles of aging easier. That knowledge gives me serious motivation to do the work.

What are your WHYs for personal development? Remind yourself of them often. Write them on sticky notes on your mirror. Add them to your calendar the first of each month. Discuss them with trusted companions. Read, watch, and listen to others following a similar path. If you do, your future self will thank you, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself. 

Kathleen Dowling Singh, The Grace in Aging: Awaken as You Grow Older (Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2014), 12, 16–17, 17–18, 21, 24.