Recently I’ve been exploring and playing with putting together personal growth frameworks to advance my personal growth and simplify how I view the world. And, who knows they might help you too! 😉
In this episode, we delve into a powerful three-step model called the Feedback Learn and Grow Model. Like most of these frameworks, they come to me during a moment of inspiration, and this model in particular has the potential to transform how we view life’s events and experiences. By applying this model, I believe that you can turn every situation into an opportunity for personal growth and self-improvement.
Before we delve into the model, we must first understand the concept of the Universal Law of Cause and Effect. Simply put this Universal law states how every action has an effect and outcome or series of outcomes. For example, you pressed snooze on the morning alarm (action) which meant that you were late for work (outcome). This example is at the law at its most basic level. Most times there are a series of outcomes, and these outcomes result in the creation of our life. This law sets the stage for understanding the model’s three steps.
Step 1 – Feedback
The first step of the model is feedback. If every event, experience, or action we take leads to an outcome, what would happen if we viewed this or these outcomes as feedback of what works and doesn’t work for us rather than labelling them as good or bad? This takes a mindset shift of seeing the outcomes in our lives as opportunities for growth and learning.
Step 2 – Learn
The second step is to learn after receiving feedback. It’s essential to reflect on the outcome, ask questions, and gain insights. I’m a huge advocate of reflection and suggest that you adopt this practice to help you truly learn from your experiences and outcomes.
Step 3 – Grow
The final step, step three is to grow. Growth is one of the purposes of all human existence in my honest opinion. We are here to grow and evolve, and growth occurs when we apply what we’ve learned.
The Model in Practice
So, now that we’ve touched on each step let’s use the example I gave beforehand to see how this model could work in practice…
If we pressed snooze on the morning alarm which meant that we were late for work, instead of judging this as good or bad, we could view this as feedback on what to do or not to do next time. We could learn not to press snooze again because it produces excess stress and cortisol, leading us to rush, not feel good, and a whole heap of other outcomes that affect the flow of our day. When we apply what we learn, we don’t press the snooze button next time, so we grow and become 1% better! It could also inspire us to take a look at our sleeping habits, and overall lifestyle choices which would propel our personal growth but this is a different conversation for another day!
Embracing Life as a Game
I like to apply this model as a game by seeing how many outcomes I can gain feedback and learn from to propel my growth. This makes personal growth more fun and can lead to greater enjoyment, fulfilment, and funnily enough more personal growth. Embracing feedback and playfulness can not only help us to grow but also improve our overall health and well-being. This is something I’m continuing to look to improve on as I can be a serious person, but that in itself is something I view as a game.
I hope that you find this model valuable and helpful in some way. I’d love to hear your thoughts, and experiences of applying this model to your own life and how it has or hasn’t worked for you. Get in touch here, or reach me on all social platforms @reallukeburrows.