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The Personal Growth Letter

by Sinem Günel & Philip Hofmacher

Subscribe to fluff-free, actionable, and inspiring ideas to help you become your best self and build a life you love.

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Featured Post

Are you working too hard?

I recently came across a speech by Bill Gates where he shares five life lessons he wishes he had learned sooner in his life. One of them is to take more breaks and enjoy life: “Take time to nurture your relationships, to celebrate your successes, and to recover from your losses. Take a break when you need to. Take it easy on the people around you when they need it too.” Gates' words reminded me of my own journey with toxic productivity. Granted, my journey was significantly shorter than his,...

11 months ago • 1 min read
group of people setting up campfire

If you're anything like me, your expectations and ideas about friendships changed throughout your life. As a kid, you feel cool when you have a lot of friends. But the older we get, the harder it is to: 🔁 stay in touch with our friends 🆕 or worse: to make new friends I'm not even sure which one's harder, but I recently gained brilliant insights from an article titled How to Make Friends as an Adult. The author lived across three continents in nine different towns over the last 20 years, so he...

6 months ago • 1 min read
MacBook Pro

Hey Reader, When I say writing has changed my life, most people think I’m exaggerating or being too romantic. But I’m not. Over the last five years, I’ve practiced various forms of writing: I self-published a book. I wrote over 550 articles on Medium. I'm journaling almost daily. I sent over 700 newsletters to subscribers just like you. And I can confidently say writing can change your life in ways you might’ve never expected.Learn more about how writing consistently could change your life....

6 months ago • 1 min read
people meeting in room

In 1967, researchers at UCLA wrote about the importance of nonverbal communication and how our body language and tone of voice can influence our message. Over the following decades, the research was misinterpreted and led to a popular yet false concept named 7/38/55, which indicates that: 7% of a message is expressed through the actual words used 38% of a message is expressed through the tone of voice 55% of a message is expressed through body language Of course, this isn’t always true. When...

6 months ago • 1 min read
gold pen on white box

So many people fail to achieve their goals because they’re more concerned about doing things perfectly than doing them repeatedly. But here’s the harsh truth: A perfect workout won’t transform your body or mind. Working out consistently will. One productive day won’t build your dream career. Doing the right things consistently will. One great date won’t lead to a happy marriage. Consistently showing your partner that you care will. Instead of trying to avoid mistakes, fail with grace and make...

7 months ago • 1 min read
text

Hey Reader, Here's a truth most of us ignore for way too long: You deserve to be treated with respect and kindness by yourself and others. The good news is, you lead the way. You show others how to treat you by choosing how you treat yourself and setting clear boundaries. You can decide to stand up for yourself, quickly move on after failure, and celebrate your successes with grace and joy instead of belittling your efforts. 🥳 Most people will make you feel bad for being proud of yourself and...

7 months ago • 1 min read
brown pencil on white book page

I discovered the 5-year memory journal in 2020 and have been obsessed with it ever since. You know how you love a book so much that you share it with anyone you love?! It’s the same with this journal — nearly all my friends have received it because I genuinely think anyone can benefit from it. The concept is stupidly simple: You have a journal with 365 pages, with each page representing a day in a year (January 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) Each page is divided into five sections, which represent five...

7 months ago • 1 min read
man in gray shirt looking at city buildings during daytime

Hey Reader, Here's something you might not know yet: Your brain doesn’t want you to be happy, it wants you to be safe. 🥰 So when we make decisions, we naturally lean toward safer options that make us feel good. Here’s what investor Naval Ravikant writes: “If you have two choices to make, and they’re relatively equal choices, take the path more difficult and more painful in the short term. What’s actually going on is one of these paths requires short-term pain. And the other path leads to pain...

8 months ago • 2 min read
man in black framed sunglasses holding fan of white and gray striped cards

Even though most people spend the majority of their lives trying to make more money, the truth is that money doesn’t necessarily make you “rich” or happy. You can make a million dollars and spend a million dollars on alcohol, cigarettes, and parties that make you feel empty instead of rich. Real richness is defined by how you make your decisions, how you spend your time, and how happy you ultimately feel. ⏳❤️🥰 Stop fighting for goals you think you should achieve and start to create your own...

8 months ago • 1 min read
love to learn pencil signage on wall near walking man

In the 21st century, your biggest asset is your skillset. Your ability to learn, re-learn, and combine different skills in creative ways helps you navigate life with ease. No matter how much money you earn, lose, or have, your most important investment will always be the one in yourself. The majority of today’s workforce is easily replaceable through machines and robots that aren’t just cheaper but also better at completing most tasks. In order to be irreplaceable, you need to challenge...

8 months ago • 1 min read
white ceramic bathtub

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear “self-care”? Bubble baths? 🛀 Fancy massages? 💆♀️ Expensive vacations? 🍹 Whatever it is, it probably sounds comfortable and simple. But the truth is that most of these nice-sounding activities don’t have a significant impact on our lives. It’s tough conversations and challenging situations that force us to step out of our comfort zones and help us be more confident. If you want to take better care of yourself and grow into your best...

8 months ago • 3 min read
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