How Personal Growth Affects You At Work

January 21, 2015

It’s very easy to get caught into a bad routine and become completely consumed with your job and different tasks around your workplace. Although, it’s not bad to be engrossed with something that you’re passionate about, it may be detrimental to your personal growth.


The great Albert Einstein once said:



Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.


I couldn’t agree more. I believe that one of the worst things happening with my generation is that we think we’ve reached the pinnacle of our lives once we’ve obtained a decent position, passable salary, and have maintained a good social standing with peers and colleagues.


My observations show that the majority get complacent way too quickly. And we aren’t allowing ourselves to reach our full potential.


Call me an optimist, but I believe that people are capable of achieving more than what they think. Perhaps they’re under the assumption that their personal growth gets cut short or diminished by life’s challenges. Whereas I (including a minority of others) believe that we’re supposed to grow from any trials and tribulations.


Personal growth is about learning from your mistakes and doing the unwilling. And once you begin to blaze your own trail you’ll find that better opportunities await, both professionally and outside of work.


Here’s how personal growth affects you in and out of work.


Your Relations With Others


For better or for worse, the more you grow as a person, the more your relations with those around you will change.


The best way to grow as a person is to continue to meet new people and learn from individuals that you’ll come across; whether at work or while partaking in extracurricular activities.


Here’s the good and the bad, though:


The bad: Relationships with some of your old friends will become distant and almost non-existent. In fact, did you know that most people have a completely new set of friends every seven years?


Fear not, you won’t be completely away from your old friends. Especially with all the new social networks out, you can always see what’s going on with your pals from school. But some of your oldest relationships may not be as strong as they once were.


The good: If you opt to meet new people and make all kinds of friends at work and within your industry, you’ll find like-minded individuals that can help you come up with new concepts that’ll make you a better individual.


Whether you make new friends within your industry or not, always remember to put family first!


The Positions That You’re Offered


If you’re an actively engaged employee, you’re always looking to acquire new skills that’ll help you grow within the company. This psyche probably tends to transfer over to your personal life as well.


I’ve seen firsthand the effects of someone being so motivated that they’ve ended up picking up new skills that got them better jobs in the future. Even positions that are entirely different than ones that they’ve held previously.


A perfect example would be one of the founders of Officevibe, Daniel Benoni, who started off doing Civil Engineering and became so enamoured by web applications that he learned how to code programs, design websites, and even learned how to do a little online marketing.


The more you want to grow and the more skills you acquire, will help you obtain bigger and badder positions than you could’ve ever imagined. All you have to do is stay ahead of the curve and make sure that you’re learning the right things.


Here are a couple of things that you can do to keep growing as an individual and employee:



  • Follow an industry blog or magazine
  • Learn about new market trends
  • Read great books
  • Keep your head sharp
  • Stay healthy

The Things You’ll Be Able To Achieve


The more you grow and learn, the more you’ll be able to achieve.


There’s no better feeling in the world than having a humongous accomplishment. Whether it’s obtaining a big employee of the month prize or coaching your kid’s soccer team to the championship. Even if it’s


Your personal growth will put you in positions to succeed, and sometimes your knowledge or personal stories can help the people around you. There’s never luck, or being in the right place or right time. You succeed by hard work and seizing opportunities.



Luck is when preperation meets opportunity.


I am in no way saying this in a braggadocios fashion, but one of the things that has given me the greatest sense of achievement, is when I’ve helped a friend or business partner and had them use my advice in order for them to succeed.


So in becoming a more knowledgeable and understanding person, you’ll be able to help others around you do better as well. And when you make the people around you better, you’re adding value to your “personal stock.”


Your Legacy Correlates With Your Personal Growth


I’ve always loved talking about leaving behind a great legacy.


Personally, there’s nothing more I would want in this world than doing something that helped people. I know that I have to become the best me that I can and reach my full potential in order to have a chance.


If you ever get the opportunity to reach your full potential, you’ll be able to leave behind a strong legacy within any workplace that you go to, any groups of people you associate with, and really anybody you meet.


Deep down inside, we all want to be remembered for something. So continue growing intellectually, emotionally, and dare I say, physically … I just started going to the gym again, so I feel like I had to say it.


Keep growing as a person and leave behind that awesome legacy you dream of. Everyone at work will know you for it, and you’ll have the respect among your colleagues.


The Experiences You’ll Have


Whether it’s a cool experience at your office or trying something new for the first time, the more you grow, the better experiences you’ll face.


Like the old saying goes:



Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude.


So a lot of great things can happen if you keep your head up and treat people the right way. Even if it’s something like having a quick lunch with your boss or colleague to talk some non-work-related stuff, it can go a long way.


And if you’re going to walk into work on Monday with an “I hate that I have to be here” mentality, it’s one of three reasons: You disagree with management, you aren’t making the more out of your days, and you are just working for a paycheck.


Basically, you’re a disengaged employee. You have to start doing your best to get out of the current funk you’re in and find ways for you to enjoy your job and the people around you.


If you’re a manager looking for tactics to engage your employees, find an appropriate mean to get information (non-forcibly) from them. It can go a long way and even better some of your employees’ motivation to stay in the company even longer.

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