What is Cultivation and Why is it Essential in Personal Growth?

Definition

Cultivation is the act of tending to something to help it grow. When we tend to our own growth, we increase our knowledge, capacity, understanding, and so much more! We can unlock new beginnings, new perspectives, and so many more possibilities.

What Does it Mean to Cultivate Personal Growth?

Cultivating growth means you consistently focus on growth. It isn’t something passive, though some growth does happen organically. To wholeheartedly be focused on your own growth means that you always have time set aside every day or every week to do something that helps you grow or to keep your skills sharp. These activities are part of your SMART goals to get you where you want to be in life.

Examples

Some examples of personal goals that I have set for myself over the years:

1. Run 3 miles, 5 days per week to stay healthy.
2. Drink my green smoothies every day (also for health).
3. Write daily to improve my communication and writing skills.
4. Build new skills by researching and practicing them.

These are continuous goals that have become habits. Once you tackle one, you can add another (that’s how I’ve built up my personal growth habits). The benefits compound and you keep improving.

Long-term goals are more complex, they required multiple habits to achieve:

1. Obtain a degree.
   1. Study 3 days per week.
   1. Schedule tests and projects for weekend days (which means giving up free time).
   1. Honor all study time, consistency is the key.
   1. Meet all classroom requirements.
   1. Do this for years until complete.

Career goals are the same as long-term goals, they require multiple steps and consistent action to achieve. A good assessment to do is a SWOT analysis, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Focus on strengthening your strengths and your weaknesses and always keep an eye out for opportunities and threats. You are the CEO of your career, run it like your own business.

I encourage everyone I talk to always do these things for yourself:

• Think about your career at least weekly and create a Career Roadmap of where you want to go and always be working towards the destination (also in that same breath, enjoy the process and the journey, but don’t get comfortable).
• Make a practice weekly of writing down your biggest accomplishment that week and try to quantify your impact on you organization whenever possible.
• Invest in yourself weekly, read an article, work on a building skill, read a book, always be improving, and honing your skills. No one can take those away from you!
• (The reason I say, “Don’t get comfortable”, that’s when you’re at risk of becoming stagnate, getting burnt out, or losing confidence.)

Growth doesn’t always have to be related to your career though. Maybe you love art, or creating, hobbies, ensure you make time for them on a weekly basis too. You don’t just live to work, do what brings you joy with consistency too. Happiness will fuel your growth as well. Stay on top of your hobbies and interests and strive for balance – That’s another goal that I’m always working on – striking a good balance in everything.

Closing

Focusing on cultivating your growth and enjoying your life is a consistent and never-ending process. It’s not a “set it and forget it” thing. It takes diligent planning and reflection. What was bringing you joy before, may no longer be, and that’s okay. As we grow, our preferences and goals change. Staying focused on your personal growth can help you stay happy, health, and thriving.

If you follow me on LinkedIn, you may have noticed that I love quotes that make me think. There are SO many great ones about cultivating personal growth. So many great minds have realized the importance of continual personal growth.

“As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit.”

– Seneca the Younger

“One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.”

– Bruce Lee

“The highest purpose of intellectual cultivation is to give a man a perfect knowledge and mastery of his own inner self.”

– Novalis

“Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body.”

– Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Apply yourself both now and in the next life. Without effort, you cannot be prosperous. Though the land be good, you cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation.”

– Plato

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