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Getting the house tidied up gives us a sense of accomplishment and the opportunity to move forward in the new season without any lingering baggage. Why can’t the same apply to our lives? Sometimes it's necessary to take an introspective look at the many aspects of your life, evaluate where they are headed, and figure out your next moves.

We all lead very different lives, but the common themes that seem to ring true for us all are our friendships/relationships, our work life and/or school life, and our self-development, to put it broadly. These areas are constantly changing and evolving depending on how much effort you put into them. If you are for all-around growth, then you will absolutely witness the ups and downs associated with all three. These minor trials are necessary when you are striving for the best outcome in each situation.

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The friendships and romantic relationships in which we find ourselves tend to boil down to a simple fact: we want to support and be supported. It's fulfilling to know that a friend or lover really cares about where you end up in this life. That’s a commitment to seeing and supporting the growth in someone, which is key to a healthy relationship. You both have to want that for each other. That being said, sometimes it’s worth taking a mental note as to where your relationships stand. Are you getting as much as you’re giving? Are you giving as much as you’re getting? Are you just not getting anything at all? All of these questions are examples of prompts to get you thinking about whether a certain relationship is growing or remaining stagnant. It’s easy for us to let our more-complicated relationships die out, but maybe taking the time out to assess what’s really plaguing them will make the difference between losing a valuable friendship and saving it. It’s also important to know when it is in fact time to let go.

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Growth is definitely the goal here and that remains true when it comes to work or school. It’s natural to want to advance in your career, and we all go to school with the hopes to better ourselves even more. If you’re feeling unmotivated in any of those spaces it might be time to really think about what’s got you feeling stuck. Do you need a new job? Do you need to do a degree change? Sometimes it might be worth changing schools if the environment isn’t right. Communicating with your boss about feeling stagnant and wanting more of a challenge could jumpstart a new love for what you do. Whatever it is, it should spark that fire back in you to grow. We spend most of our time at work and at school, so we should probably put an effort into making sure that we’re getting the most out of it. You should ultimately feel inspired and know that there are opportunities for you to excel. It doesn’t have to be in the form of a drastic change such as switching jobs. An honest talk with your manager may just do the trick.

All roads lead to self-development, or gradually developing your abilities and becoming the best version of yourself. Everyone’s path to growth looks different. Growth is an inevitable part of life, which is the beauty of it. We can either challenge ourselves to look introspectively and determine what needs to be worked on, or sit back and not take on the amazing things that come along with self-reflection. It can be as simple as working on your time management. Take it a step further and work on investing more time into perfecting your craft. As long as you’re making it a priority to continuously evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, you’ll be able to pinpoint the areas that need work. A little spring cleaning for your life can do a body good.