Do you ever think about how you are tending to your personal growth and mental or emotional wellbeing?  Do you plan to sow seeds that benefit your mindset? Many don’t and try to fly by the seat of their pants, hoping for a decent outcome.  But if you tend your garden, you can foster a healthy foundation in which you can handle the unexpected and still thrive.

Plants need good soil, sun, and water to thrive. You, too, need a suitable diet, plenty of sleep, and ways to manage stress. Self-care practices help you tend your garden, which allows you to manage obstacles so you are resilient.  The daily grounding mechanism, setting appropriate personal boundaries, and making authentic connections are ways for you to plant the right seeds to help you overcome the unknown along your path.

It’s interesting how playing in the dirt reconnects you to nature, which is very grounding. This past weekend I planted some flowers and herbs on my deck. Digging my fingers into the soil, carefully covering the roots, and making sure it had proper water and sunlight reminded me how everyone needs the earth for survival. And yet, many people are so disconnected from it and others because they aren’t tending their own spiritual garden within themselves.

Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which, he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. – James Allen

The Need For Growth

If you aren’t growing, then you are stagnating. Growth allows you to become your authentic self and when you delay your own development, you are allowing the egoic mind to keep you from living out your dreams.

Remember, your evolution requires you to stretch out of your comfort zone. This means you will feel some discomfort as your ego tries to scare you from moving toward your dreams because it wants you to avoid the risk of taking a misstep. But missteps are learning opportunities you need to grow. This progression requires you to be open to change, new ideas, and different perspectives. 

When you delay your development, you are denying yourself. Your dreams drive you forward, but your egoic fears keep your growth stunted. Which further postpones your happiness and the future you dream of living. You must find the courage within yourself to take action and move towards the goals you have and embrace the growth process by tending to the evolutionary process.

Many people don’t tend to their growth by staying in toxic relationships, holding on to outdated beliefs, not being their authentic selves, doing so much you aren’t tending to yourself, or staying focused on the past. They stay in the shadows instead of going into the light, which is needed for creative seeds to sprout. It’s your responsibility to expand yourself and unlearn those behaviors that hold you back.

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. – Jim Rohn

Tending to the Weeds

My definition of a weed is a plant that is growing somewhere I don’t want it to. Many people think dandelions are weeds, but to a bee, they’re a food source. And to a child, they are wishing flowers. Perspective matters, even when gardening.

But what about the unwanted thoughts or situations that arise in the garden of your personal growth? Do you allow them to grow or do you mitigate them? See, when you look at these intrusive thoughts as weeds in the garden of your life, you want to pull them. But it requires your awareness that these thoughts are growing next to the pretty roses you did plant.

Once you see you have these negative thoughts growing, pause and look at how it’s affecting the flowers you planted. It’s stealing water and nutrients from the soil to help the intrusive thought to grow. And if you don’t tend to this weed, then it could overtake and kill the roses you want to bloom.

So, do you see how not dealing with egoic thoughts keeps you from growing into your full potential? Don’t allow negative thoughts to take over your garden. Tend to them by finding ways to mitigate them and plant new seeds that you want to grow in their place.

Creation is not unwilling to open to you the doors to the beyond. It is not creation’s unwillingness that you are struggling with. You are struggling with the walls of resistance that you have built around yourself. – Sadhguru

Tending to Your Inner Garden

Are you ready to tend to your inner garden of personal growth? It’s time for you to empower yourself to reach your goals and live authentically.  Here are seven ways for you to embrace your evolutionary process and watch your growth surge.

1. Be Aware – To grow, you need to see with clarity what’s before you. Seek the truth. Understand who you are, your strengths and weakness, and where you want to go. You need to grasp the reality of your current situation, what you need to overcome and look for creative ways to move forward towards the life you desire.
2. Create An Action Plan – When you plan the actions you will take to move forward, it helps quiet the fearful egoic chatter in your head.  Why? Because the ego sees you’re aware of the potential risk and have put together a strategy to overcome them. Keep in mind that you want to take small steps so you aren’t overwhelmed and are building your self-confidence as you go. Be flexible and adjust as needed.
3. Water The Seedlings – As you move forward, remember to celebrate those things that go right so when things don’t go as planned, you can handle it with ease. Move past the discomfort by reminding yourself of what you’ve already overcome to get where you are. Look for the silver lining and focus on those things that move you forward, not keep you stuck.
4. Adjust Your Perspective – No matter where you are on your path, you’ve come a long way.  Therefore, what’s on the horizon has changed. Consequently, you need to alter your perception based on where you are now and the new knowledge you have gained. Remember to ask questions and evaluate your current circumstances so you can pivot as needed.
5. Plant Yourself Around The Right People – Just like the surrounding plants, others can either help or hinder growth, the wrong people in your life can make your garden of growth full of weeds. Find your tribe who will help with your development by watering you when you’re dry, sharing their wisdom-filled nutrients, and helping lean you towards the sunshine.  
6. Give Plenty Of Sunny Self-care – Whether through moving your body, grounding exercises, providing your body with nutrients, or resting, self-care habits are the sunshine you need in tending your garden.
7. Plant Variety  – Do you like that purple flower but it doesn’t actually fit in your plan? Add it anyway. When you find something you really like, try it because it’s a great way to develop and expand yourself. Novelty and adventure are fun ways to add some diversity to your life.

In order to be knowledgeable in these changing times, we must pursue a constant program of self-improvement, a never-ending journey into new fields of knowledge and learning. – Og Mandino

Moving Forward Tending Your Garden

Becoming your authentic self is a continuous process that requires you to be conscious of the growth you need to do.  Therefore, avoiding or delaying the need to tend to your personal development means you are prolonging your dreams from being your reality.

I know you want to build the life of your dreams. Everyone does.  So, allow yourself the time to tend to your inner growth. Become aware so you can create a plan of action. Water the seedlings, adjust your perspective, and plant yourself around the right people to help you thrive.  Add variety to your garden and get plenty of sunshine through your self-care routine.

This journey of personal growth will have some twists and turns. But when you face new challenges, embrace the experience and make the most of what life gives you.  Learn from the missteps and see the growth surge as you move forward living a happy life.

If you are moving forward in your life. If you are progressing personally, professionally, emotionally, and spiritually – you will be happy. – Tony Robbins

As you become more mindful of how you tend your garden of personal growth, you can alter the course of your life.

Do you need help to determine what you want your garden to look like? Are you looking for support in learning how to deal with the weeds of intrusive thoughts? Do you want a strategy to help you create an extraordinary life? If so, please get in touch with me, and we can put together an action plan for you to tend to your garden and live an authentic life.

To learn about how I tended my own garden and became a more authentic version of myself, you can do so by reading my book, Raven Transcending Fear, available on Amazon or you can go to RavenTranscendingFear.com for more information.

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Summary

Article Name

Simple Ways to Tend Your Garden of Personal Growth

Description

Tend to the inner garden means taking time to plan, water the seedlings, mitigate negative weeds, and bask in the light of self-care for growth.

Author

Terri Kozlowski

Publisher Name

Kozmic Soul Solutions

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