Personal Growth, Like Walking The Dog

I’m annoyed by all the positivity. That sounds hypocritical coming from someone who’s a life coach. Life coaches believe in personal growth. We are essentially a positive group of people. But, it’s the combination of the simplicity of positive messaging and it’s enticing quality that annoys me. 

The Easy Answer Dream

I’ve read my fair share of self-help books over the years. I get enticed by the positive messaging as much as anyone else. They’re selling us quick fixes for complex issues and we’re only too happy to buy them. “Follow these easy steps and all will be wonderful.” “Just believe in yourself.” It’s a delightful dream. Wouldn’t it be terrific to repeat a simple step everyday and achieve our goals? If only life were that simple! 

The messy reality is that personal growth is not all positive. It can involve soul-searching, confusion, and discomfort.  It’s hard work to find your path forward. No matter how much you want it to be a quick fix, it’s not a simple, straight line.  It takes commitment and patience.

Personal Growth Is Not A Simple Stroll

It’s the difference between going for a walk by myself and walking the dog. When I’m by myself, I pick a pace and keep going until I reach my destination. I can predict how long it will take me to get there. If it’s a familiar trail, I know what landmarks I’ll be seeing. It’s a simple path forward. Personal growth is not a simple stroll.

Like A Dog Walk

When I walk the dog, it’s unpredictable just like personal growth. I am headed in the same direction along the trail but the pace is irregular. I have no idea when I will reach our destination. The dog sniffs, listens, explores off of the path, turns around and retraces our steps.  Sometimes she finds a lovely stick and lies down to chew it for several minutes. As much as I would like to keep walking at a steady pace, the dog is not having it. 

Acknowledge The Hard Work

Personal growth involves stopping to notice things that you hadn’t seen before and exploring unfamiliar possibilities. It requires developing patience when it takes longer than you’d anticipated, you need to retrace your steps, or you get stuck in a “stick-chewing” pause. There is no simple, positive walk forward with personal growth. To imply otherwise is to diminish the hard work. Personal growth is a dog walk of perseverance, tenacity and patience that deserves to be acknowledged.

What simple positivity have you seen lately that entices you or annoys you? Comment below.

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