How To Stimulate Personal Growth During COVID-19

Directly or indirectly, many of us have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in one way or another. As a result, we are all making changes to our day to day lives.

A lot of those changes, especially when it comes to self-isolation, leave us with a whole lot of extra time on my hands. 

And with this extra time on your hands, it can be super tempting to simply let the hours slip away.

One episode of Netflix now turns into three or four episodes, a quick check of Instagram turns into hours of mindless scrolling. And with your devices going crazy with COVID-19 updates, you may even lose yourself in news story after news story, letting it turn into a daily obsession.

Relatable, right? Surely you didn’t think you were the only one ;)

Rather than letting your newfound downtime waste away, there are ways to pass the time with something worthwhile. We can develop habits and take on tasks that are going to allow us to personally grow during this period.

Here are a few ways to stimulate self-growth during this downtime.

How Can I Improve My Personal Growth During COVID-19?

Although crisis is all-consuming, try not to dwell on it. Instead, ask yourself, How can I turn this into a personal growth opportunity?

In fact, it’s the perfect time to focus on personal development.

With the global health crisis and financial crash disrupting many lives all over the world, it has forced many of us to confront a very unpredictable, unfamiliar, and uncomfortable existence. ¹

Yet the current circumstances offer us a golden opportunity to practice a little self-resolve, administer a dash of self-trust, and muster a whole lot of self-compassion.

Plus, self-growth doesn’t just benefit ourselves. By focusing on our own happiness and wellbeing, we are also looking out for the people around us. ²

It is within our very attitudes that we are all going to come out of this as stronger people and a closer-knit global community. A real opportunity to see things from the outside in.

So, are you ready to tackle some personal growth?

Try some of these self-growth strategies. They will not only help yourself but also help others around you.

1. Allow Feelings Of Sadness And Helplessness To Flow

It’s important during any time of adversity to allow yourself to feel everything out. It’s also very normal for feelings of sadness, disappointment, helplessness, grief, frustration, and even anger to arise. The question is, what do you do with all these emotions?

Well, the first step is to recognize your emotions. Recognition is a far healthier way to deal with unpleasant emotions than distraction. A part of maintaining a healthy emotional life is permitting yourself to experience all your emotions in a beneficial manner. We can often downplay them or suppress them but it’s far healthier for us to recognize they are there and allow them to arise. The sooner we are able to do this, the sooner we will be able to accept the crisis we are all currently in.

2. Practice Putting Everything Into Perspective

A practice we can all implement during these times of hardship is to place the current crisis in a manageable perspective. Do this by first acknowledging, rather than devaluing, your perhaps narrow understanding of current events.

1. Find factually correct and accurate information. The World Health Organization’s website is a great place to keep up with current happenings. ³ Not only do they outline all up to date advice and guidelines, helping to keep you and your loved ones safe, but these updates also detail the current research and medical advancements that are underway.

2. Imagine the long-term. Try to think of your personal circumstances in the long-term. Sure, the current pandemic is a big deal right now, but life will very soon return to some form of normality and this whole thing will likely be a distant memory. Not to say we should forget, just that life does eventually go on. Getting caught up in stresses and anxieties won’t do anybody any good.

3. Think about the big picture. Ok, so things suck but take it with a grain of salt. There are so many amazing opportunities that could be recognized at any point during hardship. 

4. Seize the moment. recognize that you now finally have the time you always wanted to wipe the dust off your guitar and dig into some new chords, you get to spend more time with your family and create lifelong memories, or perhaps you can use this time to broaden your knowledge in a topic or subject you have always been passionate about. The opportunities are endless!

3. Develop A Positive Outlook

When the chips are down, isn’t it so easy to throw a pity party? I know I’m certainly guilty of it.

Instead of being pulled down the rabbit hole of self-pity, try to instead see the brighter side. I know it’s tough to invoke feelings of positivity sometimes, but it really does help.

Happiness is a choice and making a conscious effort to see things from a perspective of abundance rather than scarcity is proven to help not just yourself but also people around you. 

So why not try it out?

Conclusion

Personal growth is never easy, especially in crisis. But when is it ever easy?

Calling ourselves out and seeing our actions and thoughts from an outsider’s perspective can challenge our egos in ways perhaps we’d rather not experience.

However, this is what self-growth is all about: Taking a difficult situation and turning it into something positive

Seek out love, compassion, and empathy from your friends and family. In return, reflect it back. Take time to find fun, joy, and excitement in your new daily routine and activities. 

And, of course, strive for happiness, contentment, and satisfaction in any growth you do happen to make during this period of adversity. If you can do it now while this crisis is going on, imagine what you can achieve once you’ve weathered the storm.

• Sources

  1. McKinsey & Company. “COVID-19: Implications for Business,” April 13, 2022. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/risk/our-insights/covid-19-implications-for-business.

  2. Cloninger, C. Robert. “What Makes People Healthy, Happy, and Fulfilled in the Face of Current World Challenges?” Mens Sana Monographs 11, no. 1 (January 1, 2013): 16. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1229.109288.