What Does Personal Growth and Transformation Mean for Women Over 60?

It can be infuriating to answer a question with a question. But if you think about the idea of personal growth and transformation as a journey that is in flux every decade of your life, it makes sense to ask one more follow up question. Or, at least, it does to me.

How do you sustain your “on the go” lifestyle while energizing what is most important to you in life – your mental, physical and spiritual health?

Let’s look at your journey of personal growth and compare it to a giant goody basket. This basket represents your life. In your goody basket is everything you are as an individual. You’re a gold mine of thoughts, emotions, passions, dreams, and virtues.

Inside is everything that has happened to you, your successes, joys, fulfillments, disappointments, everything you have done. Everything you have ever been goes into this goodie basket and sets you up to maximize your human potential, thereby, giving you an opportunity to define your personal growth.

You Determine the Quality of Your Life

Yet, as we all know, it’s challenging to sustain your journey of personal growth. Especially when there are life concerns involving family, health, relationships, or money. There is also a myriad of distractions. People, places, things, and technology (hello, iPhones and iPads) get in the way of your happiness. They keep you stuck in quicksand. Your thinking gets small and the size of your thinking determines the size of your results. Personal growth gets lost inside of worries, anxieties and distractions.

So the quality of your lifestyle significantly impacts the trajectory of your personal growth. Today, more than any other time in your life, you call the shots. You determine the quality of your life. It’s different for everyone, but you know it when you discover a more profound sense of self and purpose.

Discovering a Sense of Self

In order to create a fulfilling and joyful life, it is important to understand yourself first. And that takes time and commitment. So, it makes sense that you give yourself the simple but effective gift of a 10- to 15-minute daily meditation. Remaining in the present tells you everything you need to know about where to go next. The present truly defines the quality of your life.

Taking time to self-reflect helps you overcome resistance in your personal and professional life. Resistance is a defense mechanism that causes you to deny, resist or oppose an action. This state of mind is toxic and causes stress and anxiety.

Resistance is never helpful when you are on your journey of personal growth. It slows you down and mires you in struggle. I always told my yoga students that struggle is over-rated. And it is.

The antidote is to get up every day, every morning, one day at a time and make an intention to do the most important thing in your life. To do something that brings you joy and satisfaction, gives you positive energy, raises your temperature, or fulfills a need. It is then that you can pursue your passions and your dreams.

Discovering a Sense of Purpose

To create a clear path of personal purpose requires a clear understanding of your deepest concerns and how effectively you manage your fears – fear of rejection, fear of success, and fear of failure. A sense of purpose in life not only produces lifelong happiness and vitality. It is also a necessary quality when you consider what legacy you are going to leave.

An advantageous exercise is to begin a journal or write a personal inventory so you can actually see your thoughts in a visual context.

Here’s What You May Learn from Your Personal Inventory

A personal inventory helps you think smart, live well and redirect negative energy into positive results. You will learn to have a deeper insight into the negative influences that still have a residual effect in the present. Also, you will finally let go of any negative influences in the past and move forward with forgiveness and an open heart. You will learn how to prioritize your desire for change.

A personal inventory will help you understand how creativity and trust are integral to commitment and performance and how you can make a difference with small changes in attitudes and personality. Finally, you can reduce stress and increase productivity with meditation.

As you improvise and create your life, it’s important to not to judge or label what choices you make. Let the good times roll and to:

• Start doing
• Stop doing
• Continue doing
• Do more
• Do less
• Do differently

Mindfully grow your human potential, and a profound sense of self and purpose will take center stage and life.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What is your definition of personal growth and transformation? Have you ever done a life review or taken a personal inventory of your life? What did you discover about yourself? Please join the conversation and share your thoughts.