Journal #6: Internal Growth: Use What You Have to Become Who You Need to Be

Personal growth has never been more accessible.

Within a few seconds, we can open a book, listen to a message, take a course, study Scripture, hear from experienced leaders, or learn a skill from someone on the other side of the world.

We have access to more information than almost any generation before us.

But access to information does not automatically produce transformation.

You can listen to hundreds of podcasts and remain unchanged.

You can purchase courses you never finish.

You can save articles you never return to.

You can highlight books without applying what you read.

You can know a great deal about discipline without becoming disciplined.

That is the difference between collecting information and pursuing growth.

Internal growth begins when what we are learning starts changing the way we think, respond, work, communicate, and live.

Internal Growth Requires Intention

The internet has created incredible opportunities for personal development.

You can learn communication, leadership, finances, fitness, theology, business, parenting, time management, or nearly any skill imaginable.

The challenge is no longer finding information.

The challenge is deciding what deserves your attention.

Growth requires intentionality.

Instead of asking:

“What else can I consume?”

Ask:

“What am I currently trying to develop?”

Maybe you need greater discipline.

Maybe you need to communicate better.

Maybe you need to understand your finances.

Maybe you need to strengthen your faith.

Maybe you need to become a better husband, wife, parent, employee, leader, or friend.

Once you identify the area that needs development, learning becomes more purposeful.

You are no longer consuming randomly.

You are training intentionally.

Learn Something You Can Use

One of the best ways to grow is to develop the habit of learning something and then immediately finding a way to apply it.

If you learn about communication, practice listening better in your next conversation.

If you study leadership, look for someone you can encourage or develop.

If you learn about finances, adjust one spending habit.

If you study discipline, change tomorrow morning's routine.

If you read Scripture about patience, pay attention to how you respond the next time you are inconvenienced.

Growth happens when knowledge moves from your mind into your behavior.

James wrote:

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”— James 1:22 (ESV)

What we learn becomes valuable when we begin living it.

Build a Personal Growth System

Growth becomes much easier when it is part of your regular life rather than something you do occasionally when you feel motivated.

You do not need a complicated system.

Start small.

Choose one area you want to develop.

Find one reliable resource.

Set aside a consistent period of time to study it.

Take notes.

Write down one action you can take.

Then practice it.

That might mean reading for twenty minutes each morning.

It might mean completing one lesson from an online course several nights each week.

It might mean listening to something educational during your commute.

It might mean setting aside thirty minutes on Sunday evening to reflect on what you learned during the week.

The method matters less than the consistency.

Small periods of intentional learning, repeated over time, can reshape the way you think.

And when your thinking changes, your decisions often begin changing with it.

Do Not Confuse Consumption With Progress

This may be one of the greatest dangers of online personal development.

Learning can feel productive even when nothing is changing.

We bookmark another article.

Download another resource.

Subscribe to another newsletter.

Buy another book.

Watch another video.

And because we are surrounded by good information, we assume we are growing.

But growth needs evidence.

Ask yourself:

What have I changed because of what I have learned?

That question forces information into action.

If you have been studying discipline, is your schedule becoming more disciplined?

If you have been studying leadership, are the people around you becoming better because of your influence?

If you have been studying faith, is your trust in God becoming stronger?

If you have been studying communication, are your conversations improving?

Information should eventually produce transformation.

Otherwise, we may simply become better informed versions of the same person.

Be Careful What You Feed Your Mind

The same device that can help you grow can also keep you distracted for hours.

A phone can hold a Bible, an audiobook, a course, and a journal.

It can also hold endless entertainment, comparison, outrage, and distraction.

The tool is not necessarily the problem.

The question is:

What are you consistently feeding your mind?

What you repeatedly consume begins influencing what you repeatedly think about.

And what you repeatedly think about eventually influences how you live.

Paul gives us an important standard:

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable... think about these things.”— Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

Internal growth requires guarding what enters the mind.

You cannot control everything you encounter.

But you can become much more intentional about what you continually consume.

Growth Is Personal Responsibility

No course can make you grow.

No book can make you disciplined.

No mentor can make you change.

No podcast can transform your character.

Those resources can give you knowledge, encouragement, direction, and perspective.

But eventually, you must decide what you are to do with what you have been given.

Growth requires responsibility.

Someone else can show you the path.

You still have to walk it.

Someone can explain the principle.

You still have to practice it.

Someone can challenge your thinking.

You still have to decide whether you are willing to change.

That is where internal growth begins.

Use Technology. Do Not Let Technology Use You.

There has never been a better time to intentionally develop yourself.

The tools are available.

The information is available.

The teachers are available.

The opportunities are available.

But the goal is not to become someone who simply knows more.

The goal is to become someone who lives differently because of what they know.

Use the course.

Read the book.

Listen to the message.

Study Scripture.

Write in the journal.

Ask questions.

Find mentors.

Learn from people who are farther down the road.

But then close the laptop.

Put down the phone.

And practice what you learned.

Because personal growth does not happen on the screen.

The screen can give you the information.

Growth happens when that information begins changing the person sitting in front of it. We like to call this application.

This Week's Reflection

Ask yourself:

What area of my life needs development right now?

Then choose one resource that can help you grow in that area.

Do not choose ten.

Choose one.

Study it.

Apply it.

Reflect on it.

And give yourself enough time for the lesson to become part of your life.

The opportunity to grow is everywhere.

The question is whether we are willing to turn what we learn into who we become.

“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.