One
Personal growth is generativeEvery step is a springboard for the next, so a solid terrain for your journey is essential.In practice, this means clean air, fresh water, nutritious food, comfortable shelter and psychological safety.Always check your terrain, along with your capacity and appetite for growth, remembering the military adage: slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

Two
Personal growth is exponentialEvery skill supports several more. For example, breathing supports speaking and walking, whilst speaking supports singing and presenting.This way, personal growth benefits from the magic of compounding, something Albert Einstein described as the most powerful force in the universe.This is why it pays to recognise the highs, lows and plateaus, and to think in decades, not days. In the words of Coco Chanel: fashion is fleeting, style is eternal.

Three
Personal growth is introspectiveReflect on what you already know, then connect with others to triangulate your data and improve your understanding.This way, you will create a journey that is authentic and meaningful, rather than an echo of something elsewhere.When seeking inspiration, be guided by the words of Bruce Lee: absorb what is useful, reject what is not, add what is uniquely your own.

Four
Personal growth is resourcefulHead brain
100 billion cephalic neurons
Optimised for cognitionHeart brain
40,000 cardiac neurons
Optimised for emotionGut brain
100 million enteric neurons
Optimised for actionRemember that the heart, whilst outnumbered, conducts the orchestra.

Five
Personal growth is balancedEvery cell in your body is alive with possibility, and is animated by the spirit that moves all things.Body and spirit are intertwined. As the saying goes: body without spirit is corpse, and spirit without body is ghost.When we blend yin and yang energies, personal growth becomes achievable and fun.

Six
Personal growth is courageousThe Johari Window can guide your relationship with yourself and others.Developed in the 1950s by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, the four quadrants of the window are:Open
Things we both know about meHidden
Things I know about me, but you don'tBlind
Things you know about me, but I don'tUnknown
Things neither of us know about meMoving items from Hidden to Open increases intimacy. Moving items from Blind to Open increases awareness.Doing both brings Unknown into play.This is where true humility lives, as we consider the boundless Unknown and the profound difference between mastery and omniscience.

Seven
Personal growth is strategicSometimes life can feel overwhelming. In such situations, it can be useful to have a mental model to fall back upon.In the one I have created, the goal is to broaden range and fluidity of movement within and between five dimensions:Truth
From the moment of my conception, to the navigation of my daily life.Power
From the me who is visible, to the me who is invisible.Grace
From the finite certainty of my past, to the infinite uncertainty of my future.Love
From the earth from which I emerge, to the stars towards which I strive.Wisdom
From reality as perceived by my senses, to reality as a figment of my imagination.Wisdom returns me to Truth, and to an infinite loop of exploration.

Eight
Personal growth is evocativeAs you deepen your journey, you will begin to attract the attention of those around you.Your metamorphosis will invite them to examine their own lives, and you will be met with idealisation and demonisation in equal measure.It is important not to court either response. Simply notice the turbulence, and how it is born of you but not about you.As Salvador Dali used to say: I measure my success in direct proportion to the number of people agitated by my work.

Nine
Personal growth is collaborativeWhen I see a cup, I see a vessel for drinking water. When my friend sees the same cup, he sees a vessel for storing pencils.We're both correct, and in the presence of one another, we both grow.This is the essence of Ubuntu, and of Yoga, which is Sanskrit for "union".

Ten
Personal growth is metaphysicalThere's an element of personal growth that, as of today, cannot be captured by rational explanation, and can be understood only via direct experience.This is the realm of synchronicities, miracles and quantum physics, where the fruits of your journey ripple through the infinite fabric of spacetime.Mahatma Gandhi famously said: be the change you want to see in the world. Perhaps this is what he meant.

Principles for Personal Growth
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