There are loads of books out there that will tell you that taking the time for your personal development is crucial … and they’re right. But, despite our desire for a quick fix, this isn’t a routine you can just magically jump into overnight. Wouldn’t it be so cool to suddenly have the motivation to get up at 5 a.m. to work out, followed up with journaling, coffee, and quiet time? Ah, what a dream.  

The truth is that even though this isn’t something that happens just because you want it to, starting a personal development routine for yourself is totally doable! Here are a few of my favorite ways to ease yourself into it that don’t involve getting up at 5 a.m. right off the bat (unless you’re into that sort of thing). 

Start off positive.

Positivity is the key to anything you do in life, and personal development is no different. In fact, a study found that happiness leads to success, rather than success leading to happiness. Without a little bit of positivity, nothing is ever going to change.  

Don’t get me wrong … it’s hard to feel positively about going to an intense workout class, because sometimes you just want to sit on the couch and eat chips. It’s hard to be positive about getting out of bed in the morning to greet the day, because the world is full of unknowns, while your bed is comfortable, safe, and warm. Negativity will creep in here and there, but it’s up to you to keep reminding yourself of your goals and why you’re pursuing them: to improve your life. And that’s worth jumping out of bed for every time.  

Get inspired.

Maybe you pull inspiration from self-help books, a friend, or even someone you don’t know. There are definitely some negatives to social media, but one of the positives is that people on the internet can be really inspiring.  

At the end of the day, you can only self-motivate to a certain extent. You get really excited and inspired to go on this new personal development kick, and then 2 weeks in … your motivation starts to fade out because you have no accountability, and motivation is a moment in time, not necessarily a static mindset. Having someone or something there to inspire you when putting your personal development routine to work starts to get hard is exactly what you need to keep yourself going.  

It’s all about baby steps.

You know those people who just seem to have it all together? They work out consistently, they have incredible relationships with friends and family, they meal prep, they never seem to be rattled by anything … their life seems flawless. Well, it’s likely that the flawless persona took a whole lot of hard work and discipline to create. Nobody goes to bed with a life that’s in shambles and wakes up to one that’s perfect.  

The key is to take baby steps. Push yourself to start by reading for 10 minutes a day. Then once you have that down, maybe try to add in a 30-minute workout. It may feel like you’ll never get to where you want to be by using this method, but if you stick to it, someday you will look back and realize just how far you’ve come. And that day will feel good.  

Personal development is one of those things that looks hard at first but gets easier as you continue to invest time and effort into it. Who knows? You may even learn to love it. 

Feeling too overwhelmed with life to even begin to start a personal development routine? Read my best tips on simplifying, here.