The 4 Styles of Personal Growth: Self-Trust

Welcome back to my series on the 4 styles of personal growth. This will be the penultimate article in the series. For those who have missed part of it, you can find the fifth part of the series here, the fourth part here, the third part here, the second part here, and the first part here.

Summing Up:

To recap, the self-trust path involves listening to one's own feelings and reactions as the main guide to determing whether or not you are on the correct path. If it feels wrong, a self-trust grower is very unlikely to do it. However, if it feels good to the person, they are more likely to attempt it.

As an example, my mother has recently decided to go vegetarian. However, last night she had a very tough day, and got my stepfather to pick up KFC (I just had chips). The next day, however, she admitted to me that she will probably go back to vegetarianism because she felt rotten when eating the KFC. She's also an admitted follower of the self-trust path.

Many of the people I know are on this path.

Growth:

The paths that are best suited for a follower of this path vary from person to person. Generally a follower of this path will feel drawn towards certain areas, but while some may feel an affinity for health, others may feel an affinity for money, socialising or any other aspect of personal growth. The important thing is to identify your own strengths.

You'll also have weaknesses, but you probably won't know what they are unless you make a mistake and go against your self-trust. With this path you'll naturally steer clear of your weak points.

Subtypes:

Self-Trust / Progressive (S/P): This is a good combination, since it allows for measurable goals to be set that the person feels good about. Generally the S/P will be drawn to a field, and then will choose a specific goal. Assuming they don't feel blocked about it, they'll go through with it, and they'll know when they've achieved it. A good blend of intuitive guidance and precise goal-setting.

Self-Trust / Intutive (S/I): Common for self-trusters, this combination focuses on using both external and internal forces as a guide. They may not always know exactly what they're doing, but they will have a lot of trouble going down the wrong path. If you're on this path, check out the fourth post in this series, which explains the difference between self-guidance and intuitive guidance.

Self-Trust / Research (S/R): An S/R will generally research whatever takes their fancy, and during the research process will use their feelings as a barometer to gauge the information. Generally if an S/R is on the right path, the research will encourage him or her to proceed. If the research is providing mixed feelings, it's not recommended to continue. You'll probably end up sabotaging yourself. I recommend choosing another path.

Shifting:

If you feel that self-trust isn't going to help you with your next goal, you can't figure out what to go after, or just feel like a change, this section is for you. Personal growth is malleable, and a good growth expert will be able to call upon all paths in varying degrees of expertise. Here's what you may need to do if:

Nothing feels quite 'right'.

You're not really feeling too good about your goals, no matter what you pick. You need to go to Intuition. Most likely you're on the wrong track, and intuition can help get you back on the right one. Once you've done that, your feelings should start pointing you in the right direction. This isn't too hard a shift, since you're not entrenched in cold information giving you your guidance.

You have mixed feelings: part of you wants to proceed but you're holding back.

You can't decide whether to do it or not. We've all had this feeling, when you're on the brink of committing to something but hold back from truly doing so. You need to become a Researcher. Research the topic you're not sure about, and focus on how that information makes you feel. If it makes you feel more confident, go for it. If it makes you feel less excited or confident, bin the idea and pick another one. You're free to go back to Self-Trust after just a few hours, making this the briefest shift you can have and still experience it properly.

You don't seem to be getting anywhere.

You're confident you're on the right path, but you're not too much further along than you were two or three months ago. You need to go Progressive. Knowing the path you need to be on is worthless if you're just dawdling along. You need to set out with long, confident strides, and progression will help you do that. Set goals that make you feel inspired and confident, and your progress should improve dramatically.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the self-trust path is excellent for deciding the general area you should focus on, but it's not as exact in results as some might like. Most people who practice personal growth use self-trust unconsciously, since the more trust you have in yourself, the more you channel this path, and growers have more trust in themselves than people who remain stagnant. In order to supplement this path, you should set definite aims to make sure you're getting somewhere.

Until next time, may you know what this message should say:)