time to grow

It seemed fitting that at the start of the new year, my Happiness Project would be focused on Growth. The new year is all about trying to grow and improve as a person, right? The goals I set for myself in January really challenged me to stretch beyond my comfort zone. As a type-A perfectionist and recovering control freak, I realize that growth and change don't usually make me happier right away. But in the long run, I know that happiness and growth come hand in hand.

Goals for January
Learn a new skill Get a mentor Face my fears Take a class
1. Learn a new skill. At the beginning of the month, I was having a hard time deciding what new skill I should learn in January. My mind kept going to the obvious places: learn to play an instrument, learn some kind of craft, etc. But I knew that those weren't necessarily skills that would increase my happiness. However, through pure chance/luck/randomness/grace, I was put in a position last month where I needed to learn about being a solo-preneur/freelancer/boss lady. I have some really exciting opportunities that I can't wait to share with you all, but I can't just yet. Let's just say I spent most of January learning everything I could about how to grow a potential side hustle and it's got me super psyched for the future. (I even created a new Pinterest board to help me grow in this new role!)
2. Get a mentor. This was another goal that sort of took on a life of its own. I do have a desire to one day get a personal/spiritual mentor. I really feel like I need the wisdom/counsel of a really strong woman of faith who has more life experience. But at this point, I still don't know who that is supposed to be and I can't just ask any random person to be my mentor. What I learned last month is that mentors can come from the most unlikely places, like in a blog consultation from a young graphic designer or a phone conversation with a seasoned pro who I don't know what I would do without. Sometimes, you don't find mentors; they find you.

3. Face my fears. I almost took the easy way out on this goal as well. How could I face my fears in way that doesn't actually challenge me? Ride a big roller coaster? Hold a spider? Watch a scary movie? None of those things would make me happy and they wouldn't exactly have a lasting impact on my growth as a person. I really had to ask myself what my biggest fear was. And the answer was easy: Fear of failure.
Exploring a potential side business has already been extremely challenging for me and most days I want to run away and pretend I never had the idea. But, as if I haven't put myself through enough, I decided to sign up for a 5k run at the end of February. It's something I never thought I would do, but deciding to do it has been really good for me. I'm actually pretty excited about accomplishing this goal and conquering something that I would normally be too scared to try. (Make sure to follow me on Instagram to see pictures from the run in a few weeks!)
4. Take a class. I signed up for a Coursera class in the beginning of January and, to be honest, the class has been going on for a few weeks but I haven't participated at all! Ah! I'm such a bad student. I thought I would be super excited to learn new things, but the structure of a formal class is just not interesting to me anymore. This grad school dropout does not miss school ONE TINY BIT and I'm not ashamed to say it. The class subject still seems really interesting, but between my day job and developing a side hustle, my motivation to spend time taking a class (even a free online one) is pretty low.

Alright. Since I've taken to only updating my Happiness Project once a month, I've decided to share the next month's goals at the end of the post so that these updates aren't completely coming from nowhere. Since it's already almost half-way into February (yikes), here is what I'm working on this month as I focus on my happiness theme of Inspiration:
Goals for February
Read more memoir Appreciate nature Visit new museums Start journaling
I'll be back at the end of this month (or maybe half-way through March...who knows) with the recap of my February goals.
How do you challenge yourself to grow? Have you faced any fears lately? Any good memoirs you want to recommend? Let me know in the comments!