One of my favorite things to do, besides painting, is to encourage others.

I love to cheer you on to dream big, pursue your passions, practice self-care and to grow into the person you were created to be. So in this post, I’m going to cheer you on and help you set a plan in place that you can use to see personal  growth and self-care in those areas you’ve been wanting to, without the stress and anxiety that can often come with change.

But before that, let’s be honest for a minute about self care and personal-growth. Normally when we think about personal-growth and even self-care we immediately begin making a list of all the things we need to work on. We write down 5 or more things we need to do “better”, and then get discouraged, overwhelmed and quit before we even begin!  Does that sound familiar to you too? I think we can all think of things we have tried to change in our lives that just didn’t work and left us feeling frustrated and like we had failed, again. I know I have.

But I have good news for you. There is a way to grow, in a real and tangible way, from a place of rest and confidence. Without stress, knowing that you are working on being your best you.  And it is all because you are the one tailoring your plan based on your understanding of where you are right now, in this stage in your life.  And there is a special ingredient that is going to help you like nothing else can.

This is the most important thing I will write in this whole post.  Are you ready?  You are loved, accepted and amazing right now.  Right now, before you even think about self-care or self-growth,  before you try to pull yourself or your life together and even before you go and serve your community.  Right now in this moment you are seen, you are loved, you are accepted and you are treasured.

Here are just a few verses from the Bible that always encourage me when I am feeling lost, forgotten or unworthy of love.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. . . . I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  Psalms 139:1,14   

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.  Jeremiah 31:3

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,  neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38

There are so many more verses that speak of God’s love, faithfulness and kindness towards us. They also speak of how we were all created with a purpose and we have been set apart for Him!  For HIm!  He loves us and wants to be with us.  Right now, even if we have a list a mile long of things we feel we need to “fix” about ourselves. We are so loved!

Now keeping those truths in our minds and in our hearts, let’s talk about ways we can address those areas in our lives we would like to see growth in. Here are a few steps we are going to take and talk about here on this post.

• Identifying the area we want to grow in and what our goal is.
• Making a practical and “doable” action plan or steps to take to reach our goals.
• Following the plan with grace while being kind to ourselves.

Are you ready? Let’s jump in!  Here a few areas we may be like to see personal growth in.

Relationships

Health and fitness

Coping with stress and anxiety

Parenting

Learning something new

Quiet time/Journaling

Creativity/Self Expression

Time management

I know this list barely scratches the surface of areas we may long to see growth in. We all have a private list of things we would like to work on, but just can’t seem to find the energy or know how to go about it.   Now may be a good time to dust some of those things off and take another look. 

The first thing we want to do is to identify where you would like to see growth.   Once you know the areas you want to focus on, write it down.  By writing it down, it is no longer an abstract idea you’ve just been thinking about.  Now it is something tangible that you can work towards.   I can think of a few things off the top of my head that I would love to see growth in, but I am only going to focus on one.  To help you with this process I have prepare something special for you that you can find here.  It is a free workbook you can download and fill in as we go through these each step.  

After we’ve identified the area we want to work on, we need decide what our end goal is. What will it look like? Write it down.

For example, I would love to see growth in my approach to health and fitness. (Which at the moment is non-existent!)   My goal is to be able to run a 5k by September.  I’m leaving myself plenty of time.  

Next, make a plan. Now I find planning quite stressful, but the reality is that if we have not thought out how we are going to reach our goal it will be very hard to get there.

Here are a few very important things to keep in mind as you make your plan.

Make sure it is doable.

Make sure it is maintainable.

Make sure it is beneficial.  

These things are important because we want to grow from a place of rest and confidence. We don’t want to set a plan in place that is going to be stressful and discourage us the first week we implement it. We want to know that we can actually do it and stick to it.

Another thing to keep in mind are your personal circumstances. What factors do you need to keep in mind that may influence your success?

Now, write down a few practical things you can do start moving in the right direction.

You don’t need to be very detailed. (Unless you are a detail oriented person, of course.)  Simply write down a few things you can realistically do to set yourself up for success right away. These can be small steps that will ease you into making bigger steps later.

Here is an example of what I mean.

The area I want to focus on is nutrition and fitness. As much as I want to quickly fit into my skinny jeans, and feel strong and fit, here are a few things I have to keep in mind. I have had six children. My body will need to be handled gently. I have a terrible sweet tooth and am a big snacker, especially when I am working. I get “hangry”. (It’s a real thing.)  And between having a large family, homeschooling and running In Full Color Creations, I don’t have a lot of free time.

I need to keep all of these things in mind when I set my action plan. If I don’t, then I will likely give up on day two because it won’t doable, maintainable or beneficial! So here is what my action plan looks like.

Step 1

1. I will move my body for 10-15 minutes twice a day. Focusing on strengthening my core.
2. Only drink regular coffee in the morning, and then decaf for the rest of the day.
3. Water, water and more water
4. Limit myself to one small sweet treat a day.
5. Increase fruits and vegetables intake
6. Only have bread or pasta in one meal a day, or avoid completely.

*Note – I know I am not going to turn into a fitness queen following this guideline alone. But it will help me change my thinking about the food I eat and the amount of exercise I get. *

After a time I may decide to step it up a notch.

Step 2 (only after experiencing success with step 1)

1. Walk for 30 mins. 3 times a week. Jog for 5 minutes out of 30, increasing by 1-2 minutes each week, or as I feel able to.
2. Only have sweets on the weekends
3. Reduce breads and pasta to only twice a week
4. Water, water and more water

• Note –  I could have jumped into step 2 of my plan, but because I want this to be doable, maintainable and beneficial I am easing myself into this new approach to my health. I think you get the idea. *

Now it’s time to put your plan into action and do it. Really, just do it and keep track of your progress.   Consider using a habit tracker app or if you bullet journal you can create your own habit tracker. Maybe consider sharing your plan with a friend.

Please remember that keeping track of how you are doing is not to see which days you skipped or didn’t follow the plan to the letter. It is more so that you can cheer yourself on and see where you are doing well. You can also see if there is anything not working and that needs to be tweaked in your plan.

At the end of each week take some time to consider how it went.  Review progress by asking is it doable, maintainable and/or beneficial?

For example:  I have just finished my first week following my step 1 plan, and now I want to evaluate how it’s going.  * Note: The scale has been put away, and I have no plans to go on it!  Because I don’t want to get caught up in numbers and be discouraged by them. *

Things to keep in mind for this week are:  We had two birthdays, and yes, there was cake, lots of cake!  I also wasn’t feeling great one day this week.

Self-Evaluation: Even with all the cake, I was able to limit myself to one sweet treat a day and if I needed a snack I had to almonds or a decaf coffee.  I have been able to limit carbs to dinner time.  I have no idea how much water I am drinking, but I always have a glass with me. Overall I feel great, my energy levels are high and I can tell a difference in how I am feeling with just these few changes.  I think this is maintainable and beneficial. I have struggled with exercising twice a day.  But for now, I don’t want to change my plan, as I think it is doable.

I am planning to stay on Step 1 until I am able to consistently fit exercise in each day.

Now I understand that this may seem like a fairly simplistic approach to self-growth, and in some cases we may need extra help and support.  And if that is the case for you, I hope that you will be brave and find the support that you need.  I do believe that in many cases having a simple plan, that you have created, keeping all of your life factors in mind, can help you reach your goals in a way you can be proud of.

Click here to receive your free It’s Time to Grow workbook!