Personal Growth Is For You, Not Them - Classy Career Girl

Personal Growth Is For You, Not Them Since change is constant, we naturally adjust our lives accordingly for our personal growth, especially when it feels like we’ve hit rock bottom. As much as I enjoy the challenge of working towards my personal growth and professional goals in the midst of the ebbs and flows of life changes, there are many things that can be quite frustrating about the process. If you find yourself frustrated, it may be time to draw boundaries so you can reduce obstacles that may be holding you back. There are a number of uncontrollable factors whenever we are in a transition period. One difficult to control variable is friends and family. It’s rough when you are excited about new resolutions and working towards those goals but your inner circle doesn’t resonate with you. Sometimes it may be one close friend that just doesn’t seem to get it, other times it may feel like it’s your close friends or your entire family that aren’t as supportive as you’d like them to be. 3 Things to Do When Other People Dont Agree With  Your Personal Growth 1. Understand not everyone has to get it. Yes, its extremely frustrating when some of the people that have always supported you through the ups and downs just don’t see eye to eye. If you really want them to come on board, just meet them on the other side when you get there. No worries, we‘ll always attract the right people along the way when we are at our best and doing what we enjoy, working towards our personal growth and chosen profession. You’ll also attract the right people back too! 2. Brace Yourself Our friends and family want the best for us. Sometimes their warnings and unwelcome comments instill doubts even when it’s coming from a good place. So brace yourself! Sometimes it may take months or years but when you get to where you want to be in your personal and professional life, the right people will always be drawn back. 3. Take a Break Sometimes it may be more appropriate to take a break from naysayers or spend less time discussing a particular topic that keeps being met with push-back and judgement. Other times it may be time to completely cut ties to spare yourself from tense conversations and negativity that slows down your personal growth as well as professional development. You just have to listen to your gut and do what feels right for you when it comes to your dreams. [RELATED: The 7 Best Personal Development Tips to Guarantee Success] When you take a step back from the noise of other people’s voices, only then can you hear your own voice. You’ll then be able to move forward towards that dream goal with clarity and take action driven by inspiration. As you approach your goals and your personal growth becomes visible, the people who did not originally resonate with you may begin to understand you once they see how much better off you are with the changes you made in your life. My Journey My new website, Silver Lined Days, is proof of all of the above steps. Throughout 2012, I was extremely frustrated with my career. In fact, it started years before that. But I hit a breaking point with colleagues, managers, and just about everyone except my dog. I felt that I outgrew my career over the last two of the seven years I worked in the public sector. It was time to reevaluate my values, passions, and personal growth goals. Once I figured out what I wanted and what changes I needed to make, I was filled with excitement and inspiration. But not everyone was keen on the idea behind Silver Lined Days. Two of my closest friends were risk adverse and warned against startups. My mother, bless her heart, has always been about sticking it out to the very end. So I decided to only talk about my idea with a few people that resonated with me and understood my passion. I felt energized and was able to focus on my dream goal without the background noise. There were times when I ran on very little sleep for months. It goes without saying, there were meltdowns and these friends and mentors were able to keep me going. Fast forward to the successful launch of Silver Lined Days. My risk adverse friends and commitment loving mother eventually saw how much happier I was when doing work that I loved. They were always looking out for my best interest but their concerns weren’t helping when I knew deep down inside I needed to take a leap of faith. So if your gut is telling you to make changes in your life and focus on your personal growth, draw boundaries where necessary. Accept that not everyone is going to be on board when you are taking inspired action. No need to feel guilty as the only guilt you may feel is if you look back and wished you tried!