Personal Growth Blind Spots

You may have heard about blind spots…not the T.V. show, personal blind spots. There’s a small area of the retina that doesn’t have any photoreceptors, which means that no light shone into that area is interpreted by the eye and sent to the brain. This is known as the blind spot. The blind spot doesn’t show up as a black spot in your field of vision. Instead, the brain estimates the missing spot by assessing your surroundings and projecting it in place of the blank area, giving you a complete field of vision.

Unfortunately, while you think you can see everything in front of you, your brain isn’t accurately reflecting reality. What you’re seeing may not really be what’s there. The concept of blind spots can also be translated into the area of personal growth.

What are Personal Growth Blind Spots?

When it comes to personal growth, blinds spots are parts of yourself of which you may not be fully conscious. Your blind spots may include your values, habits, thoughts, actions, traits, feelings, idiosyncrasies, etc. For most of us, our blind spots aren’t easy for us to spot. However, our friends or other individuals trained to recognize blind spots, such as a life coach, might notice some of our blind spots.

The Importance of Uncovering Your Blind Spots

It’s important to learn to uncover your blind spots. Why? Identifying your blind spots is an essential part of personal growth. You’re not aware of those blind spots, and when you identify and understand them, you’ll increase your level of self-awareness. This helps increase the speed at which you achieve greater things.

If you’re not aware of your blind spots, you probably have never worked on them before. This means that you can find some great opportunities to improve yourself. Your blind spots may also act as boundaries that are holding you back in life. Uncovering and working on your blind spots will help you become more conscious of your areas of opportunities, your weaknesses, and your strengths.

Tips for Discovering Your Blind Spots

Now that you know the importance of discovering your blind spots, you may be wondering how you can discover them. Here are some helpful tips you can use to find the blind spots keeping you from further personal growth.

Tip #1 – Keep Your Mind Open – Make sure your mind is always open to new possibilities. Be open minded enough to challenge and change the current beliefs that you hold. Keeping your mind open is one of the best ways to come across your blind spots.

Tip #2 – Build Close Friendships – It’s always helpful to build close friendships with people who will be very honest with you. Your closest friends are the ones who know you best, and they can help you find the blind spots in your life.

Tip #3 – Consider Other Points of View – Don’t be afraid to listen to the opinions of others. Considering other points of you can help you learn something that you didn’t realize before, so listen to the perspectives of others and try to understand.

Tip #4 – Have Diverse Friends – Diverse friends can also help you find your blind spots. Friends who come from very different backgrounds will see things in a different way.

Tip #5 – Investigate Other Cultures – Sometimes certain cultures have big blind spots, and people from your own culture may not be able to help you see them. Seeing life through the eyes of people from other cultures may help you to discover these blind spots.

Tip #6 – Ask Questions – If you really want to know about your blind spots, ask questions from others. Ask questions that will invite others to give you constructive criticism and input. Their feedback may help you find areas where you can improve.

Of course, you need to remember that personal growth is a journey that takes your entire life, so you’ll also continue to uncover blind spots throughout your life. As you identify and work on blind spots, you’ll continue to find more that you can work on. Being aware that you have blind spots and working hard to discover them will help you to increase your rate of personal growth.

Gregg Swanson is a peak performance consultant and human potential coach and has authored several books and numerous articles on peak performance. Gregg specializes driven individuals that have a burning desire to achieve their full potential including entrepreneurs, sales professionals and athletes.  You can pick up your free eBook, ”Why Change is So Hard” by going HERE.